Our Future
by Riza Hawkeye
Summary: One battle has finished, but when a visitor from the future arrives their presence unwittingly brings yet another conflict into the lives of the Sailor Senshi. Sequel to ‘Her Battle’. Same pairings apply.
1. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Welcome, to the sequel to 'Her Battle.' This story won't be as angst filled as 'Her Battle' and won't have _quite _as much fighting, but there will be a little of each (just not as much as in the prequel). I explained this at the end of the last chapter in 'Her Battle', but I want to say it again, I just hope I can get this right. It may sound weird, but it's easier for me to write a story without any of these characters together. I will try to make this have some comedy elements since the previous story was lacking for the most part until the very end, but that was for good reason. I will address everything that wasn't fully addressed in 'Her Battle' namely: Chibi-Usa, Minako's feelings, informing their respective families about their relationships (Luna included), and other things.

One thing I **strongly **suggest is that if you haven't read 'Her Battle' I suggest you do. A lot of things discussed won't make much sense unless you have read the 'Her Battle' prior to reading this because I'm writing this with the assumption that everyone knows what happened in that story, so do yourself a big favor and read that first if you haven't already. If you read this before reading 'Her Battle' it will ruin the most pivotal parts of that story.

I don't think I need to bother explaining this is shoujo-ai, but I will anyway. Shoujo-ai / Yuri is relationships between girls, or literally girl-love. The same relationships from 'Her Battle' apply here: Rei/Usagi (featured), Ami/Makoto, and Haruka/Michiru. The new relationship I'll be adding into the mix is….Hotaru/Chibi-Usa. As for Minako, well that's a surprise ; P

There's one more thing before I get started; Chibi-Usa…I won't likely be able to answer any questions regarding her. Feel free to ask them or speculate anyway though.

A couple things I can say is that, this story will be more balanced, character-wise, though this first chapter really only features three characters. I had heavy focus on Rei in the last story and this one still portrays her as the main character, but I'll flesh-out the other characters a lot more.

Without further ado, here is chapter 1 of my sequel to 'Her Battle', 'Our Future'. Hope everyone enjoys it and if you're one of my reviewers from 'Her Battle' reading this, thanks for all your support and this is for you :)

* * *

Chapter 1 – The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

* * *

_PANT_

"_Run for it!"_

_PANT _

"_We'll hold them back!"_

_PANT_

"_Get back to the palace!"_

_PANT_

"_Inform your mother and the Sailor Senshi!"_

_PANT_

Though a dense fog filled the area as far as the eye could see, someone's hard running could be heard clearly, as well as the person's heavy breathing that went along with it. The path the person ran cleared away some of the fog, though it didn't do much to increase visibility, however it made the person running visible. Her hair stood out more than anything, it was a bright pink and was done up in two high buns on either side of her head. Her hands went up to her eyes and quickly wiped them clear. She shook her head as she continued to run.

'I have to get away…but I don't know where I'm going…' the young girl thought as she slowed her run until she came to a stop. Her left hand reached up to her neck and pulled on the golden chain around her neck, until she revealed a small key that was previously hidden beneath her dress. She grabbed a small object and held it tightly in her hand. She remembered the small key glowing just a short time ago, just before she arrived in her current location. It saved her, she knew that, yet she was still leery about the object, mostly because she didn't know what would happen if she were to use it nor did she know the woman that gave it to her…

"Keep that with you at all times, but don't let anyone see that, not even your parents."

"Who are you and what is this?" The pink haired girl asked as she looked up from the 'key' the woman had just placed in her hand.

The tall woman simply smiled and said, "When the time comes that you need a path opened for you, simply hold that in your hand and pray to Chronos that the path of light be opened for you." She began to walk away as soon as she was done talking, but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

"But who are you?"

Again the woman smiled warmly at her, "That is unimportant at the moment. Just know that I'm a friend of your parents and I would never hurt you, Small Lady."

The young Princess' eye's widened, 'How did she know to address me like that and not Princess Serenity?' She continued to stare at the woman and opened her mouth to voice her question, when she stopped because she heard someone knock on her bedroom door.

"Is there someone in there with you Small Lady? I thought I heard talking."

The young girl turned to the door quickly; "N-No, it's just me!" she called over her shoulder before turning back to the woman, only to find that she'd vanished.

Small Lady took a deep breath and closed her eyes. 'That woman wasn't a bad person and this thing already saved me once…' She thought and dropped to one knee. "I pray to thee, God of time Chronos! Please open the path of light for me!"

She remained still for a short time after wards, expecting something to happen, but she didn't notice anything. She opened her eyes cautiously and looked around. Sure enough she was still in the same spot. She looked at the 'key' in her hand, 'Did I do something wrong?' she thought to herself. She didn't want to be trapped in this place forever; she didn't even know _where_ it is that she was.

Suddenly the fog around her began to subside and just a short distance from where she knelt she could see a large set of doors that stood by themselves, without a wall to support it. She stood up slowly and walked over to the doors just as slowly. When she reached the doors, she walked around them and sure enough there was nothing behind them or around them, they were just a set of doors standing by themselves. Once she was standing in front of them again, or at least what she assumed it was the front, she examined the two doors. As peculiar as they already were, there didn't appear to be any means to open them, they had no handles. What good was a door if it can't be opened?

As she continued to stare at the doors a thought occurred to her. She slowly reached out her hand and touched one of the doors with the palm of her hand. As soon as she touched its surface, it began to glow causing the pink haired girl to jump back in surprise. After a few more seconds passed she could hear a creaking sound and before she knew it the doors had opened themselves fully to her.

She looked into the entryway, but couldn't see anything. It was pitch black beyond the doors, which made her leery about stepping through them. 'What am I doing? I don't even know what'll happen if I go in there.' She thought and looked around once more, but there didn't appear to be anywhere else she could go. She didn't have anyone she could ask for help, she was separated from everyone she cared about; she was alone in this unknown world. There was only one means of escaping and that stood in front of her. She stared at the darkness past the doors and took a deep breath. She took a couple cautious steps forward, but stopped right in front of the entrance. She waited a couple moments longer before closing her eyes and running through doorway. As soon as she stepped past the archway, the doors sealed shut behind her.

* * *

"The Princess has escaped!"

"What did you just say?"

"She escaped our ambush and fled somewhere. We aren't able to trace her whereabouts."

The large figure punched the wall to his left, causing it to crumble to the ground, "I don't care what it takes, find her! Set loose a tracker, immediately! She must be captured at once! All of our lives hinge on it!" He watched his subordinate run off before he began pacing back and forth. He needed to report back in soon and he needed to give a good report especially after his last mission failed. 'Where the Hell could that brat have escaped to?' He thought to himself angrily.

* * *

In Tokyo, a good size shrine sat atop a rather large hill, its name Hikawa Jinja. Currently only four people were at the shrine, but two were in the process of leaving the building and it's those two that would soon find themselves drawn into yet another conflict…

The raven haired girl looked up thoughtfully, "You know there's a small ramen shop just down the street, do you want to try them?"

"Sure, that'd be fine." The blond haired girl chirped.

As they reached the exit to the main shrine they stopped. "Usa, do you think we should…you know…act…normally in front of Jii-chan?" The darker haired girl said awkwardly.

"Because he doesn't know about us yet?" Usagi questioned.

"…Yeah." Rei said quietly and paused before adding, "I mean…I want to tell him, just not yet…"

Usagi removed her arm from around her girlfriend's waist, "I understand." She said with a smile.

Likewise, Rei removed her arm that rested cross Usagi's shoulders. Instead, she took her Princess' hand in hers, "Thanks." With that the two girls walked out of the jinja, not noticing a young man step out of a room near where they stood moments before.

Once they stepped outside they spotted Rei's grandfather in the courtyard. "Jii-chan! Usagi and I are going to grab some lunch, okay?"

The elderly man looked up to the two girls, "All right, don't stay out too late though."

"We won't." Rei promised. After wards she squeezed the hand she held slightly prompting the other girl to look at her. "Let's go." She whispered and they hurried toward the stairs that would lead them to the street below. Before they knew it they'd reached the bottom of the steps, but before they could proceed any further, Rei froze. "Oh jeez, I forgot my money in my room. Wait here, I'll be right back." Rei said and sprinted up the stairs, two at a time, back to the main shrine.

Usagi leaned against the large torii that marked the entrance into the Hikawa Jinja at the base of the stairs. 'I hope Rei hurries, I'm hungry.' she thought and then heard a loud boom that sounded like thunder, but the sky was clear. Usagi looked up hoping to find an answer above her head. Usagi's eyes widened when she saw someone falling out of the sky, and heading straight for her. Usagi yelled as the 'person from the sky' collided with her.

'I know I left it in here somewhere.' Rei thought to herself and smiled triumphantly when she saw the money sitting on her dresser. She quickly grabbed it and shoved it into her jean pocket, when she heard a loud boom from outside followed by a girl yelling. 'Usagi!' Rei thought as she ran from her room as fast as she could.

"Ouch!" exclaimed the person on top of Usagi.

"I think that's my line!" Usagi said as she turned her head to see exactly who was sitting on top of her. When she saw who it was though her eyes widened and she couldn't seem to find her voice.

A girl that appeared to be in her early teens with pink hair done up in similar style to Usagi's looked down at the person who broke her fall. The pink haired girl smiled and waved sheepishly at Usagi, "Hi mom."

Just then, Rei came running down the steps of the shrine, only to stop dead in her tracks at the sight at the bottom of the stairs. Rei found herself in a similar state as Usagi; she was speechless and couldn't seem to move. Rei opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't get anything out other than a few indiscernible words. The girl at the bottom of the stairs must have heard Rei's pathetic attempt at speech because she turned her attention to the raven-haired priestess.

The girl's smile grew even wider when she saw the woman that was half way down the stairs, "Mama!" She exclaimed and quickly got off of Usagi and ran to shocked priestess.

"Oof!" Usagi groaned as the young girl roughly got off of her and ran to Rei. The pink haired girl ran up the stairs to reach Rei and when she finally did, she collided with her and threw her arms around the priestess, nearly knocking her to the ground.

"Um…?" Rei said after finally finding her voice.

The young girl looked up at Rei with the same big smile on her face, "Yes Mama?"

Rei looked at the girl in total shock and honestly, she felt a little light headed, "Ma…"

"…Ma" Usagi, still lying on the ground, finished with the same shocked expression as Rei.

Rei looked down at the girl holding her with an astonished expression. She never actually admitted to Usagi, but her biggest worry about telling Usagi how she felt, other than rejection was jeopardizing this girl's life. Yet here she was clinging on her, something Chibi-Usa had never done to her before; to Mamoru sure but…Chibi-Usa called her something she had never called her before, 'Mama'.

Usagi finally made her way up the stairs to where Rei and Chibi-Usa were. Rei looked at her love for answers, but she was just as confused as Rei. Not only were both girls shocked to see Chibi-Usa, they were also shocked to hear how she addressed them. She'd never called Usagi 'mother'…never. Even though both knew she'd be her mother in the future, they always separated the two, her future self and her present self.

The silence was unnerving the pink-haired girl, 'They could at least say something. Aren't they happy to see me?' She thought to herself. She looked up at Rei with a sad face, "Aren't you happy to see me?"

Rei looked down and met Chibi-Usa's gaze and when she did, she could see the hurt there, the hurt she had unwittingly caused. "Of course we're happy to see you. You've just taken us by surprise, that's all." Rei explained.

"I'm glad; I thought you might be upset with me." The young girl said in a relieved voice.

"Why would that be?" Rei asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Well, it's sort of a long story..." The young girl said and took a step back from the dark haired girl. When she looked at the woman before her again, she realized something was off. She didn't really examine her before running to her, because she knew what she felt, this was her mother's aura, yet now that she looked her she could see that she looked younger and she wore clothes she never seen her wear. She looked over her shoulder to the woman behind her, but the same was true of her. She turned forward again, "Where am I?" She asked uneasily and unconsciously took a step back from the dark haired woman. She must have forgotten she was on stairs because when she took her step backwards, she lost her balance and began to fall.

Reacting quickly, Rei reached out and grabbed the girl and pulled her against herself before she could fall down the stone steps. "Hey, be careful." She cautioned gently.

The pink haired girl held on to Rei tightly, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest, she'd nearly fallen but she was saved. The longer she stayed in the other girl's arms, the surer she was that she was being held by her mother, but she didn't know what was going on. As soon she felt her parents, she immediately thought she was transported back to the palace, but that definitely didn't seem to be the case anymore.

Usagi stepped closer to the duo and examined the girl, 'Could this really be Chibi-Usa? Is it somehow possible that she was still born?' She questioned herself. Usagi's heart swelled with joy at that realization. She'd already thought about a couple ways that would allow her future daughter to still be born, but to see her in the flesh gave her the reassurance that everything would really work out in the future. The only noticeable difference between the Chibi-Usa holding Rei's waist and the Chibi-Usa she met before was her eye color. Instead of being the red, she remembered her eyes were now a deep blue; a color that fell somewhere between Usagi's blue eyes and Rei's amethyst ones. Chibi-Usa seemed to have aged somewhat since she'd last seen her as well; she had to be at least 13.

"I-Is that re-really you Chibi-Usa?" Usagi asked somewhat cautiously.

The pink haired girl loosened her hold on Rei and faced the blonde haired girl. She tilted her head to the side as she looked at Usagi strangely. "Who's Chibi-Usa?" She responded simply.

Usagi's smile dropped at hearing that, if she's not Chibi-Usa who was she?

Rei let go of the girl and knelt down on one knee, so she look the young girl in her eyes, "You're not Chibi-Usa?"

The pink haired girl shook her head 'no' slowly and watched the two women's crestfallen expressions. She looked down sadly. She didn't understand what was wrong or who Chibi-Usa was.

Rei tilted up her chin slightly, so she look the girl in the again, "What is your name then?"

"My name is Usagi Small Lady Serenity."

"She's not lying, Usagi." Rei said and looked over to her girlfriend.

Upon hear that name she remembered hearing it once before, when Chibi-Usa first came to the past. "That's her full name in the future. That's Chibi-Usa's full name in the future!" Usagi exclaimed.

"What?" The miko blurted out without thinking.

The younger girl looked between the two women, confusion clearly written on her face. 'What does she mean _in the future_? Where am I exactly?' She asked herself before focusing back on to the dark haired girl she was closest to, "I don't understand. What about the future?"

"You don't remember how you got here?" Rei asked.

Without thinking she was about to pull out the 'key' that she was given to her when she remembered the words of the woman that gave it to her. She wasn't supposed to show anyone. Instead, she just shook her head unsure how else to explain how she arrived where she was, _wherever _it was.

The dark haired girl put her hand on the other girl's shoulder, "It's alright, we'll figure this out."

Usagi walked up the steps and stood one step behind the pink haired girl. She tapped the younger girl on the shoulder, prompting her to turn around. Almost immediately she was met with a warm hug, "I'm really glad to see you again." She said and held her a little tighter, "I was afraid…"

The young Princess was about to question what she meant by that, when Rei spoke before she could.

"What do you say we go somewhere else and talk for a bit?" Rei said as she saw some visitors coming up the stone steps.

"All right." Usagi agreed and stood up; extending her hand to the girl she was just holding. The pink haired girl nodded her head slowly before taking the offered hand and being lead down the steps with the two women.

* * *

The hulking figure sat at a makeshift table and stared into a monitor-like device as he spoke, "My deepest apologizes. I sent out a tracker to determine her whereabouts…" before he could finish a voice interrupted him.

"You are completely incompetent! You have until the sun crests over the horizon to find her…" with that the screen he was speaking into became fuzzy.

"Damn it!" He cursed loudly and punched the table he sat at. "Where the hell is that bastard? Haven't we gotten word back yet?" Just then he saw someone running up to him, "What is it?"

"We believe we may have located where the Princess went!"

He stood up quickly, "Good. Where is she?" His companion stepped forward and whispered something in to his ear. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know sir. Do you wish me to send a Shade to verify?" He asked.

"Yes, I must know for sure before reporting anything in." He said and motioned for his subordinate to continue.

* * *

The three girls walked down the street and when they reached the end of the block Rei looked down at the girl between Usagi and herself, "Do you think we should get her something else to wear?" she asked and looked over to her blonde haired companion.

Usagi looked at the younger girl for a moment, 'She is dressed very regally especially compared Rei and I.' she thought as she looked at how they were dressed in comparison. Rei wore a pair of boot-cut jeans and simple short sleeve form fitting black shirt. While she wore a knee length white pleated skirt and a short sleeved pink polo.

The pink haired girl looked at her dress, "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" she asked, sounding a little hurt. She was wearing a one-piece white dress with puffs of sheer white fabric on each of her shoulder and accented with several golden circles across the bust, which is traditional attire for a princess.

"Nothing is wrong with it." Rei stated quickly before adding, "It's just a bit too formal."

"She's right Chi…" Usagi stopped mid-sentence, drawing the attention of her two companions. She walked in front of them and bent forward slightly, "What does everyone usually call you?"

"Usagi, that's a little rude saying it like that." Rei chastised.

The blonde haired girl stood up fully and looked over to her girlfriend, "I didn't mean it like that. I just want to call her by a name she's comfortable with. I don't want call her Chibi-Usa if she'd rather be called something else."

"Usagi, that's still…"

"You can call me Chibi-Usa if you want." The pink haired girl interrupted the little squabble, forcing both girls to look at her. She looked down and quietly added, "Everyone usually calls me Small Lady."

"Are you sure Chibi-Usa is fine?" Usagi asked, causing her to nod her head in response. "All right, let's get you some different clothes, Chibi-Usa." She said and extended her hand to the younger girl. She quickly took the offered hand and offered her free one to Rei. The raven haired girl took her hand and they continued walking again.

* * *

Haruka stepped out of her car and paused for a moment before shutting the door. She looked around as though she was expecting someone to show up out of thin air.

"What's wrong, Ruka?" Michiru asked and shut the passenger side door.

The sandy blonde closed her eyes for a couple seconds before looking at her lover, "I'm not sure…I thought I felt a strange wind just as soon as I got out of the car." She said and closed the car door.

"An enemy?" Hotaru asked as she walked around the back of the car and stood beside her guardian.

"I'm not sure. It might be something else." She said, her brow creasing in thought.

"Can you sense anything, Michiru?" Hotaru asked, looking over to her other guardian.

She closed her eyes for a short time and when she opened them once more, she shook her head. "I don't sense anything."

"It might just be because of the changes happening right now that I'm feeling the change in the wind." Haruka said and shrugged her shoulders slightly. All three girls started to make their way to their house afterwards, the youngest of them trailing behind slightly.

* * *

Rei walked over to Usagi, who sat in front of a dressing room curtain. She leaned against the wall beside the blonde and asked, "Is this real Usa?" Usagi looked over to Rei fondly and smiled. She reached over and gave Rei a quick pinch on her exposed arm, "Oww, what did you do that for?" Rei asked and rubbed the small red spot on her arm.

Usagi smiled wider before answering, "I'm just proving to you that this isn't a dream or anything."

"You couldn't have thought of a less painful way?" Rei asked, still rubbing her arm.

"Sure." Usagi said and smiled sweetly. She then proceeded to take Rei's arm in her hands and rub the reddened area, before planting a feather light kiss on it. Rei could feel her cheeks warm at Usagi's displays of affection. Even though she always wished for Usagi show that kind of affection for her openly, she still felt a bit embarrassed. She hadn't really had anyone in her life she could call her 'significant other'; she only had her dreams until now.

Just then a hand reached from behind the curtain and tapped Usagi on the shoulder. The blonde looked at the still drawn curtain and asked, "What's wrong?"

It took a couple seconds before a reply came, "Can I have some help with the zipper?" She asked quietly.

Usagi smiled again and answered, "Sure." She stood up, "I'm coming in now."

Rei waited patiently waited outside the stall. As she stood by herself her thoughts drifted off to the young girl that had interrupted Usagi and her, 'Did something happen to make her forget? Or…' Her thoughts were cut off by a voice behind the curtain, it was Usagi.

"We're coming out."

A couple seconds later the curtain was pulled back and out walked Chibi-Usa followed by Usagi. The pink haired girl's cheeks had a hue of pink to them as she modeled the dress she wore. The dress was a white one-piece with several red flower patterns all over the fabric. "The clothing here is weird, but I like this." Chibi-Usa said as she turned around for Rei.

The raven haired girl smiled, "You look very pretty." The younger girl blushed slightly deeper and smiled brightly at the comment. Rei looked more serious as she sat down in the chair that was previously occupied by Usagi, "Can I ask you something?" Chibi-Usa nodded her head slowly in response. "When you arrived at the shrine…you didn't realize you'd traveled back to the 20th century, did you?"

'I went back in time? Is that why everything is so different? I hope everyone's still all right …' Chibi-Usa thought to herself. She shook her head slowly, "No, I didn't know."

Usagi knelt beside Rei, "Did something happen in the future?"

The younger girl was about to say something when a sales associate came over and asked them if they were all ready.

The miko looked up and smiled, "Yes, we are. Do you mind if she wears it out of the store?" She asked as she stood up.

"That would be fine." The sales person said and smiled before adding, "Right this way." She then began walking towards the front registers. The three girls followed after her and just a short time after that, they were leaving the store.

As soon as they stepped outside, Rei turned to her companions, "Let's go Ichinohashi Park to talk. It should be pretty quiet right now."

"Are you sure?" Usagi questioned, as she thought back to the last time she was at that particular park.

Rei nodded her head, "Yeah. We can't let unpleasant events in the past affect our lives now."

The Moon Princess smiled and nodded her head as well. After several minutes of walking they arrived at the park. Chibi-Usa was the first one to the entrance and ran into the park before Rei or Usagi could. She'd never seen anything like this where she came from.

"Hey, don't run ahead! You don't know your way around here!" Rei called.

Usagi inched closer to her girlfriend and whispered, "Do you think she has amnesia or something?"

The raven haired girl watched the young pink haired girl a little longer before glancing over to her right, "I don't know…but if I were to guess, I'd say she's the way she is because of us."

A curious look crossed Usagi's face, "Because of _us_?"

She nodded her head, "Yeah. Because we chose…" She paused and looked around. After a moment her eyes became fixated on the ground ahead of them, "Usagi, transform now!" The other girl nodded quickly, she didn't know what was happening, but she could hear the urgency in Rei's voice.

"Moon Crisis, Make Up!"

"Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"

Chibi-Usa looked around, 'This is really nothing like home.' She wasn't familiar with this world nor was she entirely sure how it was that she traveled to past. She did realize that the 'key' around her neck was responsible for sending her where she was, but she didn't think such a thing existed. She touched the fabric on her chest, where she felt the small object, 'If it could send me here…perhaps it can send me back as well…' She thought and turned around, but she was surprised by what she saw, 'Why did they did they transform?'

Mars looked out and scanned the ground, 'Where is it going to come from?' A couple seconds later eyes focused on Chibi-Usa and her eyes widened, 'It's not us…" She quickly darted toward the pink haired girl as fast as she could. Moon was about to say something when she felt the ground start to shake. In seconds, she swiftly picked smaller girl up and ran away with her in her arms. Barely a second later, a large monster sprang up from the ground exactly where Chibi-Usa was standing moments ago, sending concrete and dirt into the air.

The pink haired girl's eyes widened as she saw the monster erupt from the ground, just barely missing her, thanks to Mars. "T-Thank you."

Mars looked down at the young girl, "You don't have to thank me, I'm just glad I reached you in time. Can you transform?"

The young girl's eyes suddenly filled with tears as she looked up at Mars, "I'm s-sorry, I-I…"

Mars sighed inaudibly, "It's ok, you can tell me later." She said quietly. She looked over her shoulder to Sailor Moon to see how she was doing, she was dodging the attacks thankfully, but she didn't know how much longer that would last. Mars ran behind a large tree and gently put the pink haired girl down, "I have to help Usagi, will you be alright here?"

Chibi-Usa nodded, "Yeah, I'll be fine." She said and saw Mars nod back to her before running over to Sailor Moon.

As soon as Mars was far enough away, she took out the key that hung around her neck, 'I'm sorry, I have to go back if I can…I have to make sure everyone is still alright.' She dropped to her knees and held the key tightly in her hand, "I pray to thee, God of time Chronos. Please open the path of light for me." She kept her voice down, so as not to draw attention to herself and remained still, waiting for something to happen. She mentally kept track of how much time passed in her, several minutes had gone by and nothing happened. She stood up and looked at the key in her hand, 'Am I stuck here?'

She couldn't ignore the sounds of battle just beyond where she was, so she turned to how they were doing. As she watched Mars and Moon fight her mind drifted back to her parents, she'd never seen them fight before. She'd heard the Senshi tell stories, but it was different seeing them actually fight. They were strong together; they were pushing back the demon even without knowing its weak points, but they wouldn't win like they were fighting, they'd run out of energy… 'I have to help them…I can't let them lose here.'

* * *

Mars threw a punch in what she assumed be his stomach region. The youma appeared to see the strike coming, but he made no effort to move. Mars' punch remained true, but much to her horror she was the one grimacing in pain, not the youma. Mars saw the youma rear back his large arm, seemingly to swat her away, but she quickly back-flipped away from the creature. She landed a fair distance away from the youma; in fact, she now stood beside Sailor Moon.

"Are you alright?" Moon asked the concern noticeable in her voice.

Mars looked at her knuckles and made a fist a few times, she cursed inwardly. Her fingers and knuckles were torn up pretty bad, not to mention how much they stung, but she'd been through worse. Mars looked up to see Sailor Moon staring at her, the blonde's eyes were traveling to her injured hand but Mars hastily lower into her side, away from Moon's line of sight. "I'm fine, but what on Earth is that thing made of?"

"Rock. It's a rock demon."

Both senshi turned to the pink haired girl at the same time. "What?"

"It's a rock demon: it has a strong outer defense. They aren't intelligent but they are strong and hard to take down." Chibi-Usa explained.

"That would explain why my attacks haven't been of much use against that thing." Mars stated.

"How do you know all of this?" Sailor Moon asked.

The younger girl hesitated for a short time before answering, "I've seen one before."

"What do you…" Moon started to say, but heard the youma growl behind her. She turned around and saw a large rock heading at her. She gasped as she felt someone collide with her and knock her to the ground. She felt someone on top of her and when she looked, she saw Mars' worried face looking down at her, "Thanks."

"Usagi don't completely forget about the youma." Mars whispered and pulled herself off her girlfriend. As soon as she stood up, she offered her hand to Sailor Moon and brought her up with her. She turned her attention to the youma before looking at the girl behind for a moment, "He must have some kind of weakness though…"

"He does…" The young girl started to say before diving to her left, barely avoiding a large rock flying in her direction. The two senshi turned their full attention to the monster, which was currently lowering one of his bulky extremities.

"Usagi, make sure Chibi-Usa is okay. I'll keep this thing busy."

"Are you sure that you'll be okay?" Moon asked quickly.

"Yes, just check on Chibi-Usa." Mars said and ran at the youma.

Sailor Moon nodded and ran over to the girl that was just attacked. As soon as she reached her, she knelt on the ground beside Chibi-Usa, who was still lying on the ground. "Are you okay?" The younger girl nodded her head, even though she was still shaken, she wasn't hurt. "How do we take down that thing?"

Chibi-Usa sat up, "It has two weaknesses. Its eyes and throat are its weak points. If you attack them, you can defeat him." She said and saw another of Mars' fire attack hit the monster in the chest, but have no effect on him.

"How have you seen that thing before?"

She shook her head, "That's not important now. Please help her, Mama." She pleaded.

Moon nodded her head, "All right. Stay out of sight until we take down that youma." She said in a protective tone.

"I will." She replied and ran back over to where Mars had originally hid her.

Sailor Moon ran over to where Mars and the youma were fighting. As she approached she saw the creature rear back his arm to strike Mars, so she quickly grabbed her tiara and shouted…

"Moon Tiara Action!"

The golden disc left her hand and sailed through the air until it collided with the youma's arm, halting its progress, but not cutting through his tough exterior. Once Mars noticed the youma wasn't going to attack her, so she leapt backwards, landing near Moon. She dropped to one knee, breathing heavily. Moon dropped to her knees beside her and looked at her with concern, "Are you okay, Rei?"

After taking a couple more deep breaths she said, "Yeah, he's just tougher than I thought he was going to be. I can't hurt him even though I'm targeting the same spot every time I attack. Is Chibi-Usa okay?"

"Yeah, she also told me he's weakest around his throat and his eyes."

Mars nodded her head, "He's strong but he doesn't move very fast, so I think I can get behind him. You can still use your tiara to blind things right?" She asked and looked over to her Princess for confirmation.

She nodded her head, "Yeah, but what are you going to do when you get behind him?"

The raven haired girl smiled and simply said, "You'll see, I've got something in mind." Mars stood up afterward, followed by Sailor Moon doing the same. Mars ran toward the youma, taking a wide angle to get to him, but before she was too close she called to Sailor Moon, "Give me some cover!" Moon nodded and touched the crescent moon on her tiara before calling out…

"Moon Twilight Flash!"

Mars closed her eyes when she heard Moon complete her attack phrase, but continued to run at the youma. When she felt she was close enough to the youma, she leapt at the creature. She landed on the youma in such a way that she was straddling its neck, with a leg on each shoulder. "Open wide!" Mars yelled and pointed her hand at the youma's face. He opened his mouth, be it because he was going to say something or merely growl as he'd mainly been doing rather than talking, it didn't matter because Mars took the opportunity to put her hand in the creature's mouth, "Thank you…"

"Mars Flame Sniper!"

She let go of her attack and quickly removed her hand, but the flaming arrow effected the youma sooner than she'd expected. She was about to jump away from him when he unexpectedly exploded, sending her through the air for a few seconds until she collided roughly with the ground.

"Rei!" Sailor Moon called and ran over to the raven haired girl as fast as she could. When she reach her, she was laying back on the grass laughing, "Don't ever do something like that again!" Moon yelled.

Mars looked over to her girlfriend and gave her a half smile, "It destroyed the youma didn't it."

"I don't care about that! I don't want you to do anything so reckless ever again." Moon covered her eyes with a gloved hand before adding in quieter voice, "What if you got hurt in that explosion?"

Mars sighed softly and walked over to her upset girlfriend. She placed her hands on the girl's shoulders, "I'm sorry Usagi. I didn't mean to worry you." After apologizing, she wrapped her arms around the blond and held her in a tender hug.

The young pink haired girl stepped out from her hiding place and stared at the two women in an embrace. She looked at the ground for a couple minutes, before lifting her head and running towards the couple. It seemed she didn't have any way of getting home, which meant she'd have to hope everything remained all right. She wasn't sure if she should tell them about what was happening in the future, she had read books that had time-traveling in them after all, she'd read how a simple of the tongue could have bad repercussions. She wasn't sure how much in those books was true, but she didn't think she wanted to risk anything like that happening. One thing she was sure about, she could depend on them.

End Ch. 1

* * *

I don't expect the next chapter to be forth coming very soon, but anyone who stuck with me through 'Her Battle' knows I don't update very frequently, but I always do eventually. It does feel good to write again after such a long break. My intention was to finish my unfinished SM story, but this one really ended up typing up much faster, which is good for this story though. I hope to hear everyone's impressions about this new story. I'm at least satisfied with the beginning, which is good. Anyway, that's all I've got to say, so I'll just end this so I can upload this. :)


	2. A Not So Perfect Reunion

Chapter 2 – A Not So Perfect Reunion

* * *

"Well?"

The kneeling man looked over his shoulder at the larger man that had just approached him, "No, no word has come back yet."

"What's taking so long?"

The man on the ground turned back to the portal in front of them and closed his eyes, "I am unsure. We've never attempted to open a gateway to the past. It's possible something went wrong and they didn't make it there."

"That's unacceptable! If that brat could make it to the past, there's no reason why we can't as well!"

"I'm merely theorizing here, sir. I don't know for sure what happened…perhaps we should be more patient…"

The man looked into the distance, 'The sun will soon be visible…' After a few seconds, he stomped away, "I don't have time to be patient! Send someone else through!"

* * *

The young pink haired girl stepped out from her hiding place and stared at the two women in an embrace. She looked at the ground for a couple minutes, before lifting her head and running towards the couple. It seemed she didn't have any way of getting home, which meant she'd have to hope everything remained all right. She wasn't sure if she should tell them about what was happening in the future, she had read books that had time-traveling in them after all, she'd read how a simple slip of the tongue could have bad repercussions. She wasn't sure how much in those books was true, but she didn't think she wanted to risk anything like that happening. One thing she was sure about, she could depend on them.

Not wasting another moment, she ran toward the two women. As soon as she reached them she collided with them and quickly hugged the both of them. "I'm so glad both of you are alright."

Both girls smiled at the younger girl and hugged her back. "And we're glad you're safe as well." Moon said after a few moments, afterwards the girls released each other. Mars took a couple steps away from her companions and undid her transformation, causing Usagi to do the same. Rei looked around at the damage their battle had caused and as she did, a myriad of questions filled her head. Questions about the youma, as well as questions about…

Usagi stepped beside Rei, "What is it?"

"Something feels off about this." She replied quietly before turning her attention to Chibi-Usa, who had made her way next to her as well. She didn't want to throw question after question at the poor girl, though there were some things she really felt she needed to ask. "Chibi-Usa, where have you seen that monster before?"

She looked away from the dark haired girl's questioning eyes; she knew that question would be coming and she knew that she'd have to give an answer. She closed her eyes for a couple seconds before she looked up, "As I already told you, I've seen one before. I guess I should say I've seen one destroyed before. It wasn't an easy fight, but it was defeated. Since I saw what worked against it and what didn't, I knew its weaknesses."

Rei nodded before asking, "You didn't fight it though, right?"

The younger girl shook her head no, "I can't transform."

Both girls stared at her, one with a look curiosity and the other with a look of understanding at the confirmation. "Why can't you transform?"

"I-I just ca-can't." Chibi-Usa replied quietly and looked downward.

"Usagi…" Rei whispered and put her hand on the other girl's shoulder, squeezing it slightly, causing her to look at her questioningly. Rei shook her head, "Let's just leave it at that for now." The blonde haired girl nodded slowly in response. Rei walked over and stood beside, the younger girl, "Don't worry about it. We'll have time later…"

"N-No. It's fine; it's my fault anyway…" She said and looked up, "Even though I have the ability within me, I've never been able to manifest any of it. I've tried for several decades already and I can't do it no matter what I try." The pink haired girl lowered her head disappointedly.

Usagi remembered the first time she transformed; it was like second nature to her. It freaked her out the first time she did it, but it wasn't anything that required any practice. From what she remembered, Setsuna said the Sailor Senshi had to go through some kind of training, but she wasn't entirely sure how that worked because didn't remember any of that. She didn't know for sure, but she didn't think that she did anything like that because as far as she knew she wasn't able to transform into Sailor Moon during the Silver Millennium.

Rei remembered how very easy it was to transform into Sailor Mars for the very first time, back in the Silver Millennium. She'd trained for several years, before she inherited the power to become Sailor Mars. In this time it was already her power, she just need to awaken it again, her soul was already familiar with the power from her previous life. Perhaps it was different for someone born into that power, because if she'd already trained for several decades but still had yet to awaken, maybe she needed to do something different than she was already doing.

Usagi and Rei looked at each other and nodded. They didn't know what the problem was, but one thing they knew for sure was…

"It's not your fault." Rei and Usagi said together.

Chibi-Usa looked up quickly, her eyes shone with unshed tears, "Thank you." She said and walked over and hugged the two women. She hadn't really voiced her opinion about why she was unable to transform to anyone. She felt better having gotten that off her chest, but she felt even better hearing the two women before her tell her that it wasn't her fault.

"Whatever the reason, you can be sure…" Rei paused when she heard sirens getting closer, "It's about time we left."

Usagi nodded her head, "I think we've stayed around here long enough." She said and extended her hand to the shorter pink haired girl. She took the offered hand, though she was a little confused. As soon as Usagi had a firm grip she started to pull the other girl along with her as both she and Rei ran out of the park.

"Why are we running away?"

"Well, it's best that no one knows that we had anything to do with what happened there." Rei explained.

"Why?"

"People wouldn't be able to handle it." Usagi said quietly.

"And if we were to broadcast that we were in anyway associated with what happened there, it could potentially draw the attention of any of our enemies, which would not only put us in danger, but also those around us." Rei explained further. The three girls were silent as they ran a short time longer. Rei came to a stop after they were a little more than a block away from the park and looked over to Usagi, "We have to call a meeting."

The blonde haired girl nodded, "Yeah and not just because of the youma…" Her eyes drifted over to the pink haired girl as she finished her thought.

Chibi-Usa looked at them, "What is it?"

Usagi smiled and shook her head, "It's nothing."

There was silence between them for a short time before Rei asked, "Should we call Mamoru as well?"

Usagi looked a little surprised by the question, but then looked at Chibi-Usa for a second before looking at Rei. She realized what her girlfriend was _really_ asking; did you want to tell him about the pink haired girl with them? She bowed her head slightly, "No, I think we should talk with him separately from the girls."

The dark haired girl sighed, "I think that would probably be for the best as well." She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a small circular device. She pressed a couple buttons that would allow her to speak with all the senshi at once, "Everyone, something has come up. Usagi and I need everyone to meet over at the jinja in an hour. I repeat, everyone report over to the jinja in one hour." She pressed one more button, closing off communication. She put the device back into her pocket, "Let's head back to the jinja."

* * *

Ami and Makoto's heads shot up as they heard their communicators come to life. They could hear Rei's voice within seconds. After listening to the message they both heaved a sigh of relief. They were thankful it wasn't a distress call, but it was important none the less because Rei clearly sounded serious and the fact that she was calling _everyone_ over to her home meant something had happened. Both girls just prayed it wasn't what they thought it was…some kind of new enemy.

"We'd better get dressed." Makoto said as she looked over her girlfriend, who nodded her head and swung her legs over the edge of the bed and went to grab her clothes. Makoto followed the blue haired girl's lead and quickly got off the bed and searched for her clothes.

* * *

Minako got up and walked over to the door to her room. Before reaching the knob she turned to Artemis, "I'm going out for some fresh air. I'll be back in about an hour." She said and turned the doorknob, but before she could open it her communicator activated. She quickly reached into her pocket and pulled the device. When she looked at the screen it said 'audio only' and in seconds Rei's voice could be heard coming from the small object.

"Everyone, something has come up. Usagi and I need everyone to meet over at the jinja in an hour. I repeat, everyone report over to the jinja in one hour."

She quickly turned off the device and put it back into her pocket before looking over to the white cat on her bed, "Artemis, I that means a change of plans. I'll see you afterwards and let you know what happened." She said before quickly exiting the without waiting the cat's reply.

* * *

Haruka opened the front door and stepped back while still holding the door open, allowing her companions to enter before her. As soon as they entered Haruka was about to close the door, when their communicators turned on. They looked at each other before all of them pulled out the small device. After listening to the message they looked at each other once again.

"Something _did_ happen after we left them." Haruka said as she put away her communicator.

"It wasn't a distress call, so what ever happened, they dealt with it, but it was something significant enough for them to call a meeting." Michiru said.

"…Another enemy?" Hotaru speculated aloud.

"I thought you said there wasn't an immediate threat?" Haruka said and turned to the youngest member in their group.

Hotaru shook her head, "I was only theorizing since Setsuna didn't mention anything directly, but it could be that she didn't realize our next enemy would show up so soon."

"Let's see what they have to say at the meeting before jumping to conclusions." Michiru said and opened the passenger side door again. The two other girls entered the car moments later.

Haruka turned on the car and looked over her shoulder to her two companions, "We won't know until we get there." She said turned forward before driving off.

* * *

When they reached the steps to the jinja, Rei stopped and looked Usagi, "Jii-chan already knows Chibi-Usa, so it shouldn't take much of an explanation as to why she's with us, but…" she trailed off and looked over to the pink haired girl. "Chibi-Usa, you're going to have to play along with us. Jii-chan thinks you're Usagi's cousin, so we're going to need you to keep that act up for us."

Chibi-Usa nodded her head, "Okay, I'll do my best."

She was secretly happy to get to meet her great grandfather. She'd heard a lot about him, but she'd never meet him because he passed away long before she was ever born.

"We're back!" Rei called when she saw her grandfather standing by omikuji tree.

"You're back awfully earlier than I…" He started to say when he saw a short pink haired girl walk out from behind the two other girls, "What's this?"

"Jii-chan, you remember Usagi's cousin, Chibi-Usa right?" Rei said and motioned over to the younger girl.

The older man smiled as he looked and looked at the pink haired girl, "Of course. How have you been?"

The younger girl smiled and bowed her head slightly, "I've been good, thank you for asking."

Before her grandfather could say anything else Rei spoke up, "Jii-chan, we're going to go to my room. My other friends should be coming by shortly."

The bald man looked a little disappointed though his voice remained cheerful, "I see. I'll let them know when they arrive."

"Thanks Jii-chan." Rei said before ushering her two companions to the main shrine. Once they stepped inside the shrine they saw Yuuichirou walking toward them, but it seemed as soon as he saw them, he quickly turned and walked the opposite direction.

"Yuuichirou, what is it?" Rei asked

"Is something wrong?" Usagi asked causing the young man to stop walking for a moment.

They could tell he shook his, "No, I just need to get back to my chores." He said and continued walking

The blond haired girl looked at her girlfriend accusingly, "You didn't say anything mean to him again, did you?"

"What? I've been nothing, but nice to him since I got back. I don't know what his problem is." Rei said honestly. She turned away from the other girl and watched Yuuichirou turn the corner at the end of the hall. After a few more seconds she brought her gaze to the two girls with her, "Let's go to my room."

Usagi nodded and Chibi-Usa let them lead the way, while she observed her surroundings. There wasn't nearly as much to look at inside as there was outside, most of the doors were closed and there wasn't much decorating the walls either. However, once they reached one particular door, she found herself interested in that room.

Rei looked over her shoulder once they reached her room, "Chibi…" she paused when she saw the pink haired girl had stopped in front of a door a short distance away. She walked over to where the other girl stood before asking, "Do you know what that room is?"

Chibi-Usa shook her head, "No, but I feel something strange from it."

"This is where I meditate, there's a great spiritual fire inside that room." Rei explained and put her hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. "Come on, I can show it to you later." She said and led her over to her room. Rei slid open the door and motioned for her companions to enter first. When they stepped inside Chibi-Usa immediately began investigating the room, she was curious about her mother's life in the past. She quickly noticed a number of pictures of Rei with the other Sailor Senshi, as well as a couple with just her parents together.

"Where's your first aid kit?" Usagi asked once Rei sat on her futon.

Rei looked her curiously, "There should be one by the medicine cabinet in the bathroom down the hall." As soon as she answered, the other girl was out the door causing her to sigh. She brought her attention over to the pink haired, who was currently looking through her closet. "Are you looking for something?" Rei asked laughing a little at the younger girl.

Chibi-Usa quickly turned around and Rei immediately noticed a cute blush on the other girl's cheeks, which only caused her laugh even more at her. "I'm sorry; I don't mean to be nosey."

The dark haired girl shook her head, "It's okay. I can tell you, I don't have anything too interesting in here." The other girl nodded her head before walking over to Rei and sitting beside her. As soon as she sat down, the door opened and Usagi walked in with the first aid kit in hand, causing Rei to shake her head.

"Honestly Usa, it's not that bad." Rei assured her girlfriend.

"Even with your healing abilities if you don't treat your injuries properly, they'll still leave scars." The blonde haired girl said and knelt beside Rei, putting the metal box on the ground for the moment. She carefully took her girlfriend's right hand in her own and looked over the damage. "Seriously Rei, how can you tell me that doesn't hurt?" She said and opened the medical kit. She took out some gauze and antiseptic.

"Because it doesn't." She countered, but as soon as the liquid on the bottle was poured onto her fresh skin, she hissed and pulled her hand away.

"…You were saying?"

"It doesn't hurt." She said quickly and pointed to the bottle being held by her girlfriend, "That stuff does though."

Usagi sighed and shook her head, "Quit being a baby. Give me your hand back." She said holding out her hand expectedly.

"Only if you don't use that stuff again. Bandage it if you want, but don't use that stuff again." She said still holding her hand out of the other girl's reach.

Usagi shook her head and put down the antiseptic and grabbed some fresh gauze, "Fine." As soon as she agreed, Rei gave her back her injured hand. Once Usagi had Rei's hand again, she began the process of bandaging up her hand.

Chibi-Usa watched the two women with an amused look on her face. She felt the urge to laugh at them, but she suppressed the desire. When they interacted with each other away from anyone else, really reminded her of how her parents would act in the same situation. When the thought of her parents crossed her mind though, she felt a bit of sadness because at this point she wasn't sure when she be able to return to them. Even though she was with them now, they weren't the same.

Rei watched as Usagi carefully wrapped the gauze around her fingers and across her knuckles. She smiled when she thought about how lucky she was to have such a caring girlfriend. Once she wrapped the gauze around her pinkie, she wrapped the material around her hand once more before looking up at Rei.

"Hold it right here." She instructed. Rei did as she was told and Usagi reached into the first aid kit one more time and pulled out a pair of scissors and some medical tape. She cut the gauze where it was being held and took it away from Rei before cutting a piece of medical tape and attaching it to where the gauze ended. The blonde haired girl put all the supplies back into the metal box and looked up at Rei with a bright smile on her face, "All done…" As soon as the words left her mouth she shook her head, "What am I saying? Give me your hand back." She ordered as she held out her hand again. Rei looked at her hand, it looked done as far as she could tell, but she complied and gave Usagi her hand once more. She held the miko's hand in her own gently for a moment before leaning forward and placing a feather light kiss on her girlfriend's bandages. She continued to hold her hand as she looked up this time, "_Now _it's all done." She wore an even wider smile when she looked her than before.

Rei couldn't do anything to stop a blush from making its way to her cheeks at her girlfriend's display of affection. "Usa…that was so sweet. Thank you, I'm sure it'll heal twice as fast now."

Usagi seemed to smile even wider, "You're welcome." She said and picked up the first aid kit and left to return it to the bathroom.

The dark haired girl turn to right when she heard giggles coming from the pink haired princess, "What's so funny?" Chibi-Usa shook her head, refusing to answer. Rei folded her arms across her chest, "Spill it."

She covered her mouth so she wouldn't laugh too loud as she said, "It's just seeing you like that…makes me realize…both of you…still act like a couple teenagers in the future." She said and fell back against the futon in a fit of laughter.

Rei chuckled a little at the young girl's antics; she wasn't sure if her comment was a good or bad thing, but it certainly seemed to be quite amusing to Chibi-Usa nonetheless. Just then Usagi came back and looked the duo on the futon, "Did I miss something?"

Rei shook her head. Her eyes caught sight of the time then and she realized the girls would be arriving shortly. Once Usagi stood next to the futon, Rei looked at her seriously, "I think we should do this slowly."

"What do you mean?" Usagi asked cocking her head to the side.

The miko stood up and leaned next to her girlfriend's ear, "Chibi-Usa. We should tell everyone about her, before bringing her in. She's different than we remember and I don't want to put her in a bad position because the others don't know that yet."

"That's probably a good idea." She whispered back.

The dark haired girl leaned back, "It's nearly been an hour…" She announced and stepped even with Usagi, "I'll wait for everyone in the courtyard and once everyone is here, I'll escort them to my room. You can wait for my signal in the guest room next door." She said and put her hand on the blonde's shoulder, causing her to look at her. Rei gave her a quick kiss on the lips. When she moved away she whispered, "I'll knock on the wall to let you know." She received a quick nod from her princess before finally leaving the room.

Chibi-Usa looked at Usagi, "What did she mean by that?"

"Well, you see Rei has a plan…"

* * *

As soon as Rei stepped in to the courtyard she could see three of her friends already at the top of the steps and at the entrance. She smiled and called over to them, "Thanks for coming so quickly."

When they heard Rei the three outer senshi hurried over to her, "What happened?" Haruka asked quickly.

"And where's Usagi?" Michiru asked just after her lover voiced her question.

"Usagi's inside, but I want to wait until everyone is here before saying anything about what happened. There's no point in repeating myself four or five times. Let's just wait for everyone else, they shouldn't be too long."

"How'd you hurt you hand?"

Rei smiled slightly, the youngest of the three was a bit too observant, "Again, that's something we can discuss once everyone gets here." She turned away from Hotaru and looked toward the top of the stairs, waiting for the other girls to arrive. After a few moments she heard someone running up the stone steps before seeing Minako at the top. She hurried over to where the four girls were standing.

"What's going on, Rei?" The blonde haired girl asked immediately, but then she noticed someone was missing that she expected to already be there, "And where's Usagi?"

The miko sighed, 'I should have thought everyone would be confused as to why Usagi isn't with me.' She walked over and put her hand on the other girl's shoulder, "Usagi's inside and I'll tell you what happened, but let's wait until Ami and Makoto arrive before doing that." Minako nodded in response, causing the other girl to let go of her shoulder.

It wasn't long before Ami and Makoto arrived together, but this time as they approached Rei held up her hand before either girl could ask what she knew would be coming, "Let's just go inside and talk."

* * *

"I'm not causing trouble by being here am I?"

Usagi looked at the younger girl in surprise and walked over to the futon where she sat. She knelt in front of her and tilted her head up so she looked into her eyes, "What? You aren't causing any trouble. I'm very happy that you're here. I was worried about you…"

Chibi-Usa blinked a couple times. She wasn't sure that she'd heard her right, "Why were you worried?"

The blonde haired girl looked down as she said, "It's a long story…"

"What do you mean?"

Usagi shook her head before looking up once again, "It's not important. Just know that I'm glad you're here with us and you could never be trouble for us." As soon she said that, she could hear door to the shrine open. "We should go into the next room now; I think Rei's coming back."

* * *

As soon as Rei slid shut the door the questions started…

"What's wrong? Why have you called all of us together?" Makoto asked.

"Where's Usagi? I though you said she was inside, but she not here. She isn't hurt or anything is she?" Haruka asked.

Rei looked at the group, before focusing on Makoto, "Well, there are a couple reasons actually and I will get to them." She then turned her attention to senshi of wind, "You don't honestly think I'd let Usagi get hurt, do you Haruka?"

"No, but…"

Rei sighed, "I can assure you that Usagi is perfectly fine, she's just busy with something else right now. She'll join us shortly, but until then let me explain everything that's happened today that has prompt this meeting." She took a deep breath and sat on the floor in front of everyone, so that she could see everyone, "There was a youma incident earlier today…"

She was cut off quickly, "You were attacked?"

Rei held up hand to stop any further questions. She turned her attention to Minako, "It's not what you're thinking. It wasn't exactly directed at me or Usagi but it concerned me nonetheless."

"What kind of enemy was it, Rei?" Hotaru inquired.

The dark haired girl shook her head slightly, "I'm not entirely sure, but he was strong, very strong."

"Why didn't you call for help?" Haruka asked.

Rei ran her hand threw her hair before answering, "Well, while he was strong, he also wasn't the brightest youma we've ever encountered, so once we knew its weakness, he was easy enough to take down."

"Don't these things ever take a break?" Makoto commented. "I mean we've barely gotten any rest…"

"I don't think they take our feelings into consideration considering they're trying to kill us." Rei responded somberly.

After a few seconds, Ami spoke up, "There's no guarantee this youma attack was anything more than an isolated incident."

"I think we need to stay on alert though. We can't become too laidback and simply write-off this as nothing more than '_isolated incident_'." Minako chimed in.

"I didn't mean that we should just disregard this. I just don't think we should jump to conclusions one way or another though." Ami said calmly

"I guess we shouldn't prepare ourselves because it _might_ be a random attack then?" Minako countered, causing the other girl to look away from her.

"That's not what Ami meant and you know it, Minako." Makoto defended the blue haired girl.

"Stop it." Rei ordered, drawing the three girl's attention. After a few moments, she lowered her head, "I don't _know_ if this was just some random youma activity or if it's something more, but my gut's telling me that we need to stay vigilant. Something didn't feel right about that youma…"

"Was there something else that happened?" Michiru asked.

Rei stood up and walked over to left side of her room and leaned against the wall, "Actually yes. That is the other reason that I called everyone here…"

"What is it?" Haruka asked curiously.

"When Usagi and I were leaving the shrine earlier, we received an unexpected visitor, Chibi-Usa. She quite literally fell into Usagi's lap, while she waited for me at the Jinja's entrance." Rei explained, laughing a bit at the end.

Hotaru felt her heart speed up at the news, 'Chibi-Usa is here! She's safe! I can't believe it.'

"She's with Usagi then and that's why she isn't here." Minako said after a couple seconds of thought. Rei nodded her head confirming the other girl's statement.

"Were you saving her as a surprise or something? Why isn't she here?" Haruka asked anxiously.

The dark haired girl looked down, "There is a reason that she isn't with us right now…she's different."

Hotaru's elation subsided quickly at those three words. She stepped toward the other girl and cautiously asked, "What do you mean?"

"She doesn't remember what happened when she came to the past before. She seems to have no knowledge of the past things that we, Usagi and I, still remember. It appears that she is unable to transform into a Sailor Senshi as well. However, all of those changes pale in comparison to the biggest change we noticed…" Rei took a deep breath to prepare herself. If the other girls hadn't already figured it out yet, she was about to not only outing herself but Usagi as well.

"What is it, Rei? What else could have changed?" Ami asked, some what nervous about what the other girl was going to say.

After one more deep breath she continued, "From what she's said, it seems that Mamoru isn't her father anymore."

"Then who is?" Minako asked, almost afraid the answer. 'Something couldn't have happened to break them up, could it?'

Rei looked down and blushed deeply. She kept her head down for a couple more seconds before addressing everyone again, "Apparently I am."

The group fell silent, each asking themselves questions. The one that was in everyone's mind, even Rei's, was the question as to _how _it was possible. Though it was a question none of them had an answer to. Rei and Usagi were both girls, it shouldn't be possible for one to get the other pregnant.

"So, you and Usagi really are…together?" Makoto asked, breaking the silence that had filled the room.

The miko nodded her head, "Yeah." She paused for a moment before adding, "This doesn't change anything between any of us does it?" she questioned looked over everyone in the room. Everyone looked at each other for their own confirmation.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say, all we want is for Usagi to be happy and we could think of no one better to make sure that happens." The leader of the Sailor Senshi said confidently and with a large smile.

Rei turned to Haruka when she heard the woman sigh, "What?" She asked, she was still a little worried about the outers' reaction, despite Minako's statement.

"I just wish I could have had a change to woo her myself." The sandy blonde said disappointedly, only cry out a moment later. "Oww…what was that for?" She asked turning her attention to her lover.

"Oh sorry dear, I thought I saw a fly on your shoulder." Michiru said innocently.

Rei smiled, "Thanks guys." She said and reached over her shoulder and knocked on the wall softly, "Come in Usagi."

* * *

The door opened and everyone watch it anxiously as two people entered the room. Chibi-Usa hung behind Usagi as they entered the room, she already knew her parents were different and she didn't know what to expect from the rest of the senshi. She knew them, but they didn't know her and because of that she knew it wouldn't be the same as if she were back home. She unconsciously grabbed the pink shirt in front of her, causing the taller girl to stop.

"You don't have to be shy, everyone here is a friend." Usagi said quietly as she looked over her shoulder to the girl behind her.

Chibi-Usa nodded, "I know…it's just…."

"What's wrong, Chibi-Usa?" Rei said and walked up to the two girls that had just entered the room. "No one here will judge you. I already told them…"

She shook her head, causing Rei to stop, "It's not them. It's me."

"I don't understand."

"I already have preconceived thoughts about everyone, both of you included. I don't want to say anything that could offend anyone because of them." She said and looked at Usagi and Rei.

Hotaru got up quickly and stood beside Rei, "That doesn't matter; we can just get to know every other again bit by bit."

Chibi-Usa stared at the dark haired girl, who looked to be about her age, she was definitely younger than the other girls. The longer she stared, the more she racked her brain for knowledge as to who the girl was, but she couldn't recall ever seeing her before. She'd been to countless formal receptions, yet she'd not ever seen the other girl at any of them. It was also at the events that she was introduced the other Sailor Senshi she didn't already know, Uranus and Neptune. So, why is it that she'd never seen her before when her presence here clearly meant she was a Sailor Senshi? She wanted to find the answer to that question, but to do that she needed to find out who the girl was…

"I'm sorry, but who are you?"

Hotaru did her best to hide her emotions from showing at the simple question, "Y-You don't know me?"

The pink haired girl looked down, away from the other girl's hurt expression, and shook her head no. She mentally berated herself for the way she asked her question. This is what she wanted to avoid, she didn't want to hurt anyone, but after only a couple sentences, she'd done just that. She didn't understand why she didn't know the other girl. She knew all the Sailor Senshi; at least she thought she did. Most of them lived in the palace, aside from Uranus and Neptune, but even the two of them she'd met many times during the countless times she had to attend court.

Usagi turned around fully, "What about everyone else?

Chibi-Usa looked up again and looked at the other people in the room. She started just past Rei and saw a girl with short blue hair, who she immediately recognized as Mercury or Ami-chan. Like her parents, she was clearly younger, but she still looked the same. Sitting beside her was her lover, Sailor Jupiter or Mako-chan. Sitting on a separate chair from the first two girls was Venus or Minako-chan. The next person she saw as she looked around the room was the girl she didn't know. The dark haired girl was looking down, avoiding eye contact with her, but even with out meeting her eyes then, she could tell the other girl was hurting. She was unable to stare at her any longer and continued to the next two women, who she could recognize as the two senshi that did not live in the palace, Uranus and Neptune, or Haruka-san and Michiru-san.

"Do you know who anyone else is?" Rei asked when she saw the other girl had finished looking over everyone. She received a slow nod, prompting her ask the next logical question, "Who else here do you know aside from Usagi and I?"

After a few moments, she pointed in the direction of the last two women she looked at, "Haruka-san and Michiru-san." She said and pause to point towards a different direction in the room, "Minako-chan." She said and paused once more to point at the last two people she knew, "Ami-chan and Mako-chan."

With each name that was not her own, Hotaru felt as though she was physically struck. She couldn't understand how she could know everyone, _everyone_ expect her that is. She tried to come up with possible explanations, when an unpleasant one came to mind. 'I'm not dead…am I?' she questioned herself. As much as she didn't want that to be true, it was one possible reason the future Princess didn't know her.

Michiru watched Hotaru carefully, she was hurting but she was doing her best to hide it. She touched Haruka's arm, causing her to look at her. "We should go." She said and let her eyes drift over to the youngest Sailor Senshi. Haruka did the same and nodded her head after moment.

"I think it would be best if headed home now. It's getting late." Haruka announced suddenly.

"Thanks for keeping us up to date with what's going on." Michiru said and walked over to Hotaru. She put her hand on the younger girl's shoulder, "Let's go." She whispered to the other girl.

"It might be a good idea for us to head home as well. We do have school tomorrow." Ami said and looked her fellow inner senshi. Makoto nodded her head and stood up.

Minako stood up and looked over to Rei and Usagi, "Keep me informed if anything else happens. I don't want anything like last time to happen."

Rei smiled, "Don't worry; we'll let you know if anything happens."

Once nearly everyone had left, Chibi-Usa left Usagi's side and ran over to the young girl that was walking between Haruka-san and Michiru-san. Once she reached her she grabbed her wrist, surprising the other girl. Hotaru looked back and saw Chibi-Usa starring at her. She did her best to keep her voice calm as she spoke, "What is it, Chibi-Usa?"

"I'm sorry that I hurt you earlier. It was rude of me to ask you your name like I did. I didn't take into account how hurtful that question could be." The pink haired girl apologized.

Hotaru shook her head, "Nonsense, it wasn't your fault. Rei-san told us that you'd be a little different than we remember, I shouldn't have…"

"…Thought I'd know you, when I know everyone else?" She said cutting off the other girl. She looked away afraid she might have insulted the other. For her part, Hotaru simply stared wide eyed at the future Princess, unable to respond. When Chibi-Usa looked back at the dark haired girl she quickly offered up another apology, "I'm sorry. It's just that I don't understand it myself."

Hotaru smiled slightly, trying to reassure the other girl, "Maybe we can just start over again." She said and extended her hand, "Tomoe Hotaru."

Chibi-Usa smiled brightly and took the offered hand in her own, "Usagi Small Lady Serenity…but I guess you can call me Chibi-Usa."

"I'll see you later, Chibi-Usa." Hotaru said and let go of the other girl's hand.

"Yeah, see you later." She said quietly as she watched her leave. She still felt like she should have said or done something more than she did, but she didn't know what.

"You're sure you don't remember her?" Rei said as she stepped next to the younger girl.

Chibi-Usa nodded slowly, "I don't. I wish I did, but I don't."

"It must have hard for her, she really cares about you." Usagi said sadly.

"I know, I could tell." Chibi-Usa said and walked over toward the futon in the room. As soon as she reached it, she fell on to it. She rolled onto her stomach and lay there silently.

Rei looked at Usagi, "She should just stay here for the night. It's a little late to bring her over to your house."

"If she's staying, then I want to too." Usagi said eagerly.

"Usa, I think you'd have to ask your parents that. Though I doubt they'd be too willing since you have school tomorrow." The blonde haired girl pouted, but didn't say anything. She didn't want to admit her girlfriend was right. "Believe me, I'd love you to spend the night, but I don't want you to get in trouble."

"Are you going to walk me home at least?" Usagi asked hopefully.

"I was planning on it, Princess." Rei said and put her hand under her Princess chin before leaning forward and planting a quick kiss her lips. She pulled back and looked at Usagi for a moment, she looked like she was expecting more, but the raven haired girl simply smiled and turned to where her futon was, "Chibi-Usa, do you want to come with? I'm going to walk Usagi home."

Chibi-Usa looked up and nodded her head.

Usagi was still looking at Rei with a confused expression, "Just a peck, that's all."

The senshi of Mars looked at her girlfriend, "Yes. I don't want you to get too excited; you _do_ need to get your rest tonight." She said and smiled before stepping towards her door, "Let's go then."

* * *

The car ride had been silent, aside from a little background noise created by the radio. After they'd driven for several blocks, the blue haired woman in the passenger seat addressed the girl in the back seat, "Are you alright, Hotaru?"

The dark haired girl was currently staring at her hand in the back seat. The young girl was usually quiet but this more than usually, especially when she was being asked a question directly.

"Earth to Hotaru!"

Hotaru jumped a little when she felt a hand on her arm. She quickly looked up to see the concerned gaze of Michiru, "Are you okay?" she asked as soon as their eyes met.

She smiled, "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" she asked curiously.

"Maybe because Chibi-Usa doesn't seem to know you?" She replied quickly, causing the younger girl to stiffen at the question. "I'm sorry to put it so bluntly, but it's alright to be shaken by that. It's perfectly reasonable in fact. There must be some reason why the two of you haven't met in the future."

"I could be dead." Hotaru said grimly.

"Don't talk like that!" Haruka said angrily as she entered into the conversation.

Hotaru turned her attention to the car's driver, "I know myself Haruka and if I were alive there wouldn't be anything that could stop me from seeing her. If I were a-able, she…she'd know m-me." Her resolve finally broke as struggled to finish what she wanted to say. She leaned forward and held her face in her hands as she silently cried.

"I'm sorry, I truly am." Michiru said quietly before facing forward again.

* * *

"I thought I was going to get to go inside." Chibi-Usa complained.

Rei turned around from her dresser and looked at the other girl, "Sorry, I didn't mean to get your hopes up. I'm sure you'll be able to see it tomorrow after we get out of school."

"Okay…" She said and looked down.

The dark haired girl smiled at the sulking girl, "I'm going to change, I'll be right back." She said, but only received a nod from the other girl

After a few minutes the door slid open again, prompting Chibi-Usa to look up. No one entered immediately, but she could hear a loud noise that came from just outside the door. She got up to see what it was, but stopped when she saw Rei dragging in a large piece of furniture. After a few more pulls and a couple curses, she'd successfully cleared the door.

"These things aren't made to go threw sliding doors." Rei said and pulled the object a little further inside before sitting on it.

The pink haired girl stared at the piece of furniture, "What's that?"

Rei looked up, "This is your bed for tonight or if you prefer it, you can use mine and I'll use this."

Staring at the old looking futon she almost felt the need to say she'd rather sleep on the floor than that, but she realized that she doing this for her. She couldn't understand why she needed to sleep in a different futon anyway, there was more than enough room on the one that was already in the room. "I'll sleep there." She said pointing to the futon, "You should sleep in your own bed."

Rei said noticing the strange look she continued to give the futon she was sitting on, "It won't be so bad, but if it's too uncomfortable for you we can switch later."

….

….

….

Rei turned over in her sleep and now lay on her side. She rested there comfortably for some time until the soft breathing of another person reached her ears. At first she caulked the noise up to her imagination, that it was just a part of her dream; after all when she went to sleep she was alone and there was no reason for that to have changed. Soon, it was not only the sound of breathing that perked her senses; she also began to feel the person's breath tickling her face. That was not a sensation that could be imagined, even by the most vivid imagination. There was someone lying beside her and for their sake they'd better have a very good reason for being on her futon with her.

Rei slowly opened her eyes and saw a mess of pink haired beside her. She sighed, 'Why did I even bother to bring in another futon if she was just going to come into mine.' She thought and reached up to wake the girl when she saw her brow was creased and she was whispering something. 'She's having a nightmare.' Rei observed.

"No…don't…hurt"

The raven haired girl stared at the other girl, 'Don't hurt who?' she asked herself before shaking her head, 'What the Hell am I doing? I can't let her continue to be tormented in that nightmare.' She berated herself. She quickly reached forward and shook the young girl's shoulder, "Chibi-Usa, wake up." She said but didn't get much of response, so did it again, shaking her a little harder, "Wake up, you're having a nightmare!"

The young girl jolted awake and looked around frantically until her eyes fell on Rei. When she saw the dark haired woman she quickly lunged at her and hugged her tightly, as though she didn't want to let her go. Rei didn't immediately do anything except hold the girl. She was frightened, that much she could tell, but what she didn't know was what scared her so badly. She wouldn't have woken her if she would have known it would scare her this much, that wasn't true, she was scared before she even woken her. Finally she decided to ask the pink haired girl what she was afraid of, "Hey…what's wrong?"

"I'm…glad you're alright."

Rei laughed a little, "What do you mean?"

Chibi-Usa pulled away slightly and looked closer at the woman she was holding, "I-I'm sorry, I forgot where I was…I got confused with my dream."

"It seemed more like a nightmare than a dream…" She said cause the pink haired girl to look down, away from her. Rei frowned and reached up with her hand, placing it under the other girl's chin before tilting up her head so she could look her in her eyes, "Why don't you tell me about it?" Chibi-Usa didn't say anything, but shook her head no. The dark haired girl sighed, "I won't judge you. I simply want to help you because whatever it was I can tell it scared you" She paused and waited a few moments to see if she was going to respond, but she remained quiet, though she did appear to be thinking it over. She took another deep breath before continuing, "I won't make you tell me anything, but I want you to know that whatever it was that scared you it can't hurt me or anyone else. I'm sure you have your reasons for not wanting to tell me, but if you change your mind, I'll be right here." Rei sat up and started to get off her futon when she felt a hand on her forearm. She looked over and saw Chibi-Usa staring down at the sheets; she couldn't see her face clearly because her hair obscured it mostly. "What is it?"

"Thank you." She said simply without looking up.

The dark haired smiled despite the other girl not being able to see it at the moment, "There's no need to thank me, just promise that when you're ready you'll tell me what's wrong."

This time the pink haired looked up as she said, "I will."

* * *

_Elsewhere_

In an empty park there was a loud boom resembling thunder and suddenly a tall man appeared out of thin air. He quickly looked around and found himself to be alone, "This is where he should have arrived…" he said to himself quietly. He crouched down and investigated the ground, 'This isn't where he appeared though…'

He stood up fully and walked further into the park. He stopped when he noticed a black mark on the ground. He crouched down once more and touched the darkened ground. He looked up, his eyes glowing brightly, and looked around the area. After about a minute or so he closed his eyes and stood up. "I see. You were unlucky."

He began to walk away, 'This will be more difficult than we thought if she's already made contact with _them_.' After that thought another loud boom could be heard and afterwards he was gone.

End Ch. 2

* * *

Even though this was a fairly long chapter, there wasn't a lot of stuff happening. I don't like doing chapters with a lot of dialogue and little action, but this was one of those chapters because unfortunately they are needed some times. I really don't have lot to say following this though. I did have a lot of fun writing the scenes with Hotaru (poor girl :( ). Anyone who read 'Her Battle' (and that should be **all** of you who are reading this) should know that I like to make my favorite characters suffer before any happiness. Honestly that car scene (though it was really short) was really sad for me to write, I don't know it's harder for me to make Hotaru cry than it ever was to make Rei.

Oh, I guess I should say I did really like writing the scene where Usagi bandaging Rei hand too. Usagi's so thoughtful :) I actually got the inspiration from a short dōjinshi about Nanoha and Fate, from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.


	3. The Mystery of ChibiUsa

This took a little bit longer than I expected, but it's finally ready…

* * *

Chapter 3 – The Mystery of Chibi-Usa

* * *

"Sir…"

The man being addressed looked up to see who was addressing him, once he saw it wasn't who he was expecting, "What is it?" He called in annoyance.

"Sir! Heliodor-sama is here to hear your status report!"

"He's _here_?" The large man stood up abruptly. 'I didn't think he was actually going to show up here…' He thought to himself as he tried to rack his mind for what he was going to say to appease the frightening man. Already he could feel his palms become sweaty. He needed to find a way to buy himself some more time. Before he could try to come up with something he heard a voice that immediately shut down his train of thought…

"I don't see the Princess here anywhere." A voice remarked casually in the distance.

The large man stiffened upon hearing the voice, he knew instantly who it belonged to. He also knew time to come up with an excuse was over.

"Do you care to tell me why she isn't here?"

A young looking man walked forward, until he stood just a couple steps away from the larger man. As they stood in front of each other, it hard to image that the substantially larger man would be afraid of the other man, who was far thinner and whose overall frame was smaller than him though he stood slightly taller. The thinner man was very handsome and had an air of confidence about him that would make any woman swoon over him. He had long hair that was tied back in a loose ponytail at his lower back. His hair was mostly a light yellowish color, except of the ends which were a light green.

"Heliodor-sama, I am still working on finding her. I've already sent another…"

He stood a step toward the larger man as he spoke, "Are you telling me you're wasting resources as well then? Why don't you just send everyone here to find her? Are you trying to weaken our forces, you fool?"

"You told me to find her and the only way I can that is to send someone else after her. It wasn't as easy…"

Cutting off the other man again, Heliodor yelled, "She is a child, a child with no power no less! Are you telling me kidnapping her was so difficult? You didn't even have to worry about her parents! I truly dread what the outcome would have been had you faced them!"

"But she wasn't without power…"

"I've heard enough excuses!" The young looking man yelled and reached forward, grabbing the larger man by the throat. "You've screwed up for the last time. A low-class like you should have never been given such an important assignment."

"I'm sorry…I'll…"

The man's voice was cut off by a quick turn of the other man's wrist, followed by a sickening cracking sound. Heliodor released the other man's throat, allowing his body to fall limply to the ground, his head bent at an awkward angle. He wiped his hand on his pants as he called, "Someone clean this trash up! I'll be taking over here and there will be no more failed missions."

* * *

Rei stepped out of the bathtub and grabbed a towel that hung near the tub. She began drying herself off as she thought, 'What is it that she saw that upset her?' Having finished drawing off her body, she moved on to her hair. After a few moments she threw the towel into a basket into the corner of the room, it had dried her hair as much as it could. She wiped the water residue that had formed on the mirror in front of her and stared at herself, 'Was it a vision? A memory? Or simply a nightmare?' She sighed and reached for her hairdryer and brush. Once her hair was mostly dry she put away the hairdryer. She paused for a moment, 'I still have concerns about that youma…'

Rei walked over to her uniform for school and stared at it for a moment, her mind drift over to what awaited her when she returned to school, and she certainly didn't relish all the make-up work she'd have to do. 'Maybe if I told them I was kidnapped, they'd pity me.' She laughed quietly at the thought. Of course if she told them the truth they'd probably want her committed. 'I guess I'll just have to get by as best as I can.' With that thought she grabbed her clothes and began getting dressed. When she was done she quickly left the bathroom and headed back to her room. However, when she turned the corner to her room she bumped in someone…

"Sorry…" she said and looked up, "…Yuuichirou?" He looked even more disheveled than normal and Rei could have sworn she saw bags under the young man's eyes. "Is something wrong, Yuuichirou?"

He shook his head slightly and said, "No." He stood there only for a couple more seconds before walking past Rei.

She stared at him oddly as he walked away from her, he was acting strange even for him. She shrugged her shoulders and began walking to her room once more. She reached the door to her room and paused before opening it, 'It wouldn't be a good idea for her to wonder around the city without someone with her. I should tell Chibi-Usa to stay here while I go to school.' She thought to herself before sliding opening the door. She stepped inside and looked around for the pink haired princess; she could feel worry building up in her stomach when she didn't immediately find the younger girl. 'She was going to stay here until I got back, so where…' Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard light breathing coming from her futon. She quickly turned to the object in the center of her room and the first thing she saw a mess of pink hair. She sighed in relief before walking over the futon.

'She must have fallen back asleep.' She thought as she knelt beside the futon. She was sleeping, peacefully now as far as she could tell and that made her have second thoughts about disturbing her, but she didn't want to leave the girl without letting her know. Rei put her hand on the sleeping girl's shoulder and shook her slightly, "Chibi-Usa, come on…wake up."

The pink haired girl stirred a little, but wasn't fully awake as she muttered, "Is it time to get up already, Mama?"

Rei smiled, "Well, I'm not going to make you get up, but I did want to tell you something before I went to school."

Chibi-Usa blinked a couple times before wiping her eyes. When her vision was clear she saw a younger version of her mother, "I'm sorry, I thought…"

"It's fine; just try not to call me that around Jii-chan. I don't think I'd be able to explain that very well" Rei said and smiled again.

Chibi-Usa nodded her head slowly, "I'll try…"

"You can call me Rei-chan, at least while you're at the jinja." The younger girl made a strange face at her request. Seeing this Rei added, "I'm sorry, I know it'll probably be weird, but it'd really be easier if you can call me Rei-chan."

She continued looking at the older girl with odd expression, but eventually she nodded her head. It would be awkward and at times difficult to call the woman before her anything but Mama, but she would do her best if it made things easier for her Mama. "Okay…R-Rei-chan."

Rei stood up and smiled sympathetically at the other girl, "It won't be for that long, I promise. We'll figure out how you got here and get you back to your rightful time." The pink haired girl nodded again, though it was less cheerfully than she would have hoped. "Is something wrong?"

The younger girl turned her gaze downward; she couldn't deny her longing to return to her home, not only to see everyone again, but to make sure everyone was alright. She really wanted to let everyone know that she was alright as well, but she didn't have any way to do that and she knew everyone would be worried about her. Nevertheless, there were things about this time that she felt the need to find out. There had to be some reason she was here, in the past, at least that's what she believed. However, she didn't want to cause trouble for anyone, especially her future parents and she got the distinct impression that her presence was or would in the near future cause trouble for the woman in the room with her and she didn't want that. With that thought in mind, she continued to look down as she shook her head no.

Rei stared at the other girl, not believing her, "Are you sure?"

Chibi-Usa looked up, "Yeah." She said simply and nodded her head.

Rei continued to stare at the other girl, feeling as though there was something more. After a number of seconds pasted she lowered her head, catching a glimpse of the clock in her room; it was far past time she should have left for school. "Alright, I'll leave it at that but I want you to do something for me."

"What is it?" Chibi-Usa asked tilting her head slightly to the left.

"I don't want you to leave jinja until I come home." Rei answered.

"Why?"

"I don't think you should wonder around alone in a world you aren't familiar with, it wouldn't be safe." The raven haired girl explained. She watched the younger girl as she waited for her answer. After a few more seconds, she nodded her head. Rei seemed satisfied with that and bent over to match Chibi-Usa's much lower position on the futon. She gave her a quick hug. When she pulled back she said, "I should be back by three thirty, so I'll be back before you know it. And Chibi-Usa…" The pink haired girl gave Rei her fully attention when she addressed her, "Don't bottle up what you're feeling. I know from experience that is doesn't help in the long run." She slid open her bedroom door and exited the room.

* * *

Haruka stepped into the kitchen and went straight for the coffee maker to prepare a pot. Once she'd filled the machine with water and added fresh coffee, she turned the unit on. She took a couple steps to right and opened the cabinet. She pulled out two mugs and placed them on the counter beside the coffeemaker. It would still be a short time before it would be done, but she decided to stand in front of it and wait for it to finish rather then sitting down at the modest table across the room. As she watched the dark liquid drip into the pot, she allowed herself to become lost in thought at least until she felt a hand rub against her lower back. The short haired blonde felt a smiled tug at the corners of her lips at the other person's touch. She didn't even bother to turn around as she whispered, "Good morning, Michi."

"Good morning yourself." Michiru said and stood beside her slightly taller lover. She placed a tender kiss on her cheek before following her gaze to the coffee pot, "It's unusual for you to be the first down and make the coffee. What's the occasion?"

Haruka didn't look at the woman beside her as she spoke, "I'm worried about Hotaru."

Any playful banter she had planned to say left her thoughts then. Michiru looked down and saw her companion's hand of the counter, so she placed hers over it, "As am I. You didn't sleep very well last night."

"Nor did you and I think I can safely say the same for Hotaru. That's likely why she's still asleep now."

Michiru nodded, "Did you have any success in thinking about other reasons Chibi-Usa wouldn't know Hotaru?"

"None that are very pleasant and I refuse to believe that Hotaru isn't alive in the future." Haruka said balling her hand not being held by Michiru into a fist.

"If she truly believes that though, we'll have to be watchful of her actions when we do have to fight. If she doesn't believe she has a future she might end up doing something that will hurt herself, even if it's unintentional."

The sandy blonde nodded her head, "I agree. She might do something reckless." Both women fell silent for several minutes, until Haruka turned to face her lover. "I wish Setsuna were here. She'd know what was going on…and what to do."

Michiru simply nodded in agreement. Just then the coffee maker buzzed, informing them it had finished brewing.

Hotaru leaned against the wall beside the doorway to the kitchen, 'I need some air.' She thought to herself and pushed off the wall. She strode toward the front door, stopping a short distance from it when a thought struck her. She walked over an end table in the living room. She opened the drawer on the front of it and pulled out a notepad as well as a pen. She took both objects with her to the front door. When she reached to small table by the door she put the notepad down and quickly wrote down a short note for the two women acting as her guardians…

_I'm going for a walk. I want to be  
alone for a little while. You don't  
have to worry, I'll be back soon.  
Love, Hotaru_

She put the pen down beside the paper and exited the building a few moments later.

* * *

Students were filling into Azabu Juuban Junior High as it was about fifteen minutes from the first bell. Two girls stopped just short of the entrance and appeared to be having a serious conversation. The taller girl wore a different uniform than all the other girls that entered the school making her stand out even more than her height did. The second girl was significantly shorter and had short blue hair…

Makoto stepped in front of Ami and put her hands on the shorter girl's shoulders, "Are you sure?"

The blue haired girl looked up and blushed slightly under the other girl's gaze. She nodded her head sharply, "Yeah. I mean…unless you don't want to."

"I-I do…I just want you to be sure that you're ready."

"Ready for what?"

Both girls jumped back slightly and stared at the culprit in only partially feigned anger, "Geez…Minako! Did you really have to do that?" Makoto chastised.

Minako held up her hands defensively, "Hey, I just happened to over hear the end. As could any one walking into the school though…"

Makoto looked around for a moment and was going to counter the blonde's statement, when Ami beat her to the punch. "I was just telling Makoto I wanted her come over to dinner with my mother and me later in the week."

"Ooohh…the big introduction!" Minako announced cheerfully.

"Keep your voice down." Makoto whispered and nudged the blonde in her side.

"It's not like she hasn't met my mother…"

"But it's different introducing Makoto as your girlfriend." Minako matter-of-factly

"What?"

All three girls knew that voice and even though they did, they each turned around together and came face to face with one of their other friends. Usagi. She looked as surprised as she sounded when they first heard her. Her mouth was slightly agape and she stared at the two girls her other friend had just outed.

"I'm sorry Usagi…that's not how we wanted to tell you." Makoto said and gave sideways glare at Minako, who again held up her hand defensively.

Usagi looked down for a moment, causing a little concern as to what she was going to do. After what felt like an eternity for the two girls at the center of discussion, though it wasn't more than a few seconds, Usagi lifted her head up and gave her two friends the biggest smile she could. "I'm so happy for the two of you!" She gushed and leapt at the two unsuspecting girls causing them to nearly fall over as she collided with them.

Minako smiled at her friends, though it was far less cheerful than Usagi's. She was truly happy for her friends, but despite that there was still a melancholy feeling that she couldn't shake. She knew it was because of her own situation and she wouldn't allow own feeling put a damper on her friends' blossoming relationships. Just then the first bell toned alerting the girls it was time to start to head to class.

* * *

"And so for today's class, I would like everyone to turn to page…"

Rei zoned her teacher out from that point on and once again her mind traveled back to Chibi-Usa. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was more going on then she was letting on. 'There was something on her mind, but she's reluctant to tell me anything about it. Why though?' She thought to herself.

There wasn't much she could do to get her to open up though, she'd already made herself open to listen to her, but would that be enough. 'It might end up being too late, when she's ready to talk.' She took a deep breath and racked her mind for what else she could do. 'I wonder if she'd be more open with Usagi…'

"Hino-san!"

Rei nearly jumped out of her seat at hearing her name being yelled across the room. When she regained her composure, she quickly stood up and looked at her teacher in front of case, "Yes, Sister."

"Do you mind telling me where I just left off?"

Rei panicked inwardly, but maintain calm on the outside. How was she going to answer that question when she didn't even pay attention to where she said start? She heard someone whisper a page and paragraph number to her left, but she couldn't understand what they said. "I'm sorry Sister…I believe I lost my place."

"Hino-san, you've just come back to us after a week's worth of absences the least you could do is pay attention in class."

"I'm sorry Sister, it won't happen again." Rei said and sat down without another word. She heard one of her classmates apologize quietly. She waited until her teacher was no longer paying attention to her before looking over to her left and whispering, "It was my own fault. There's no need for you to get in trouble too." She finished by giving the girl a quick smile, causing her to turn away from her hurriedly. She turned forward again, this time distantly listening to what her teacher was saying, but her thoughts still lay elsewhere.

* * *

Chibi-Usa sat on the futon and looked around the room again; it must have been the dozenth time she'd done so. Her gaze became drawn a number of frames that sat on the top of the dresser across the room. She stood up and walked over to examine them. She smiled at the picture that was placed in center of the rest; it was a shot of her parents, without anyone else. After a few seconds she looked over the other pictures. In a group shot she noticed a girl that looked just like her. She picked up the frame and stared at it more closely…the girl looked just like her. She put the frame down and walked back over to the futon. She sat down and tried to think about what was going on. She was absolutely certain that she'd never been to the past, 'Was someone playing a on her parents?' she thought and stood up quickly. 'There's someone here that recognized me that isn't my parents or a Sailor Senshi.' She headed to the sliding door to leave the room to search for that person.

She left the room and walked down the hall. She stopped when the hall split off in two different directions. She tried to remember which way would take her out of the shrine. Finally just picking the direction she thought it was she went down the left and continued walking until she reached a room with two sliding doors. She knew this was the correct way she reached there; she remembered that room from the night before. 'This is where Mama mediates…' She reached for the door and was about to open them when she heard someone speaking to her, "I sorry, customers…" He paused when her recognized the girl, "You're Usagi's cousin, right?"

"Wha…I mean y-yes…" She stuttered a bit almost forgetting that was who she was supposed to be.

"Did you spend the night? I didn't see you come in…" Yuuichirou had assumed she would have stayed with Usagi.

"Yeah…Yuui…Yuuich…" She sighed in defeat at her inability to pronounce the man's name.

"Yuuichirou."

Chibi-Usa bowed her head slightly, "I'm sorry."

He shook his head, "It's not the easiest name to say."

A thought occurred to Chibi-Usa, 'This man seems to know me as well…maybe I can get some clue about that girl from him' "Say, when did you last see me here? I can't seem to remember how long ago it was."

"About a month ago I'd say."

"Okay…thanks." She thought about questioning the man if he was sure, but that would have only been weirder. There was a picture of a girl that looked like her and everyone seemed to know her, but that didn't mesh with what she knew, she'd never been to the past and hadn't met someone of these people like the man next to her and her mother's grandfather. Then there was the girl with the other Sailor Senshi last night, Hotaru. She didn't know any of them…

"I should really get back to my chores." Yuuichirou said.

Chibi-Usa nodded, "Okay, I'm sorry to have kept you." She said and started to walk toward the shrine's exit again. As she entered the courtyard, she looked around but didn't see anyone immediately. She was curious as to where her mother's grandfather was because she didn't see him in the shrine and now in the courtyard. She walked over the steps that lead down to the street. 'I know I told mama that I'd stay in the shrine, but she won't know if I'm gone for just a little while.' She thought and began walking down the stone steps.

Rei's grandfather stepped out from behind the jinja's charm stand and saw a young girl with pink haired, but before he could say anything she was already descending the stairs.

* * *

Hotaru looked around; she'd been walking for a little more than a half hour already and she was already thinking about walking back to her house. Her walk had done little ease her mind's worries, she hadn't come up with another explanation for why Chibi-Usa didn't know her…except for the first one that she came up with the night before. She shook her head, 'Haruka and Michiru were right…if continue to think that it'll become a selfulfilling prophecy.'

She looked forward again and saw a glimpse of pink hair as the person the corner a little ways away from her. She hurried to catch up to the person. When she reached the corner she looked down block and saw a girl with pink hair and a distinctive hairstyle to match it. 'It is Chibi-Usa…' She thought and looked at the street she was on. 'I didn't realize I walked that far." She thought and turned back to see the other girl approaching an intersection. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a car speeding down the street, right where she was walking. Hotaru ran as fast as she could and hoped that either Chibi-Usa would realize there was a car coming or that she'd make it in time. Just before she could step down from the crib, Hotaru grabbed her by the first thing she could reach…the collar of her top and pulled her back onto the sidewalk.

Chibi-Usa stared wide eyed at the red sports car that zoomed past where she would have been, had she not been pulled away from the street. She tried to will her heartbeat to slow from her near death experience. She took a deep breath before turning around to see the face of her savior. She was at a loss for words as when she saw the very girl she was just thinking about.

"Are you alright?" Hotaru asked she looked over the other girl. She sighed in relief it appeared she made it just in time.

"Y-Yeah…thank you." Her heart was still pounding fiercely in her chest even as she thanked the dark haired girl. She wanted to know about the girl beside her and this seemed like a good opportunity to do just that, "Do you want to go somewhere and talk?"

* * *

"She's not anywhere upstairs!" Haruka announced as she reached the bottom of the staircase.

"She isn't downstairs either." Michiru said as she walked out of the living room.

"Where could she be?" Haruka asked and ran her hand through her hair nervously.

Michiru grabbed her purse and looked at her lover, she was pacing now. She walked over to the other woman and put her hand reassuringly on her shoulder, "Let's go looking for her."

Haruka nodded her head in agreement and headed for the door, stopping at the small table beside it to grab her keys. She paused mid-motion when she noticed a pad of paper there. When she saw writing on it she picked it up and read the few words that were scribed there.

Michiru walked up behind her and asked, "What is it, Ruka?" The blonde haired woman passed the paper over her shoulder. After reading it she looked up, "At least we know she's safe."

"She could have just told us…"

* * *

Chibi-Usa stopped walking for a moment and asked, "Did you mean what you said last night?"

Hotaru's brow creased in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Chibi-Usa looked over to the dark haired girl, "Do you think it would be possible that we could get to know each bit by bit?"

Hotaru couldn't help but smile at the question, "If that's what you want."

"It is." The pink haired girl said simply. She continued walking with Hotaru close behind her until they reached a bench. Chibi-Usa sat down followed by her companion shortly there after. They sat there for a short time without saying anything until Chibi-Usa finally broke the silence, "I'm sorry, but I don't really know where to start though. I don't really have a lot of experience with making friends. Except for the Sailor Senshi, I don't really have any friends, but it's different with them…I guess you'd be different too then."

After a few moments of silence, Hotaru spoke, "I'm not so good with this kind of thing either…"

"Really?"

Hotaru nodded her head slowly, "Yeah. I never made friends with anyone in school because I was different. When I ever got close to anyone I always hurt them, but wasn't my fault." She paused when she noticed the confused look on the pink haired girl's face. "It's a long story…"

"I don't mind…" She was going to say something more when she saw the other girl's expression, "You don't want to talk about it though, do you?"

Hotaru looked at her feet and put her hands on her thighs. She gripped her skirt tightly with her hands, "I'm sorry…it's just talking about that time…brings up a lot of painful memories that I'd…" She stopped when she felt a hand covering her own. She quickly looked over and saw a pair of worried royal blue eyes staring at her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to conjure up bad memories. You don't have to talk about it and I won't bring it out again if that's what you want." Chibi-Usa said sincerely without breaking eye contact with the dark haired girl.

Hotaru was unable to maintain her stare and turned to look forward. "I didn't mean to sound so depressing. Everything wasn't bad. I did have one friend that I made; actually it was more because of her persistence than anything."

"Are you still friends with her?" The pink haired girl let go of her hand as she asked that.

The other girl was silent for a few moments before she settled on her response, "I'm not sure, it's a little complicated."

Chibi-Usa looked at the dark haired girl with a look of confusion, "I don't understand."

"The only friend I've ever truly had was you, but I guess you don't remember that."

Chibi-Usa stared at the other girl, 'How can that be? I've never been to the past.' She stared straight ahead, not really looking at anything in particular, just trying to understand. That was the problem though, she couldn't understand, 'No one's been surprised by me. Everyone seems to think they've met me before, but that's not possible. Everyone remembers me. It's like a girl pretended to be me to fool everyone for some reason. But to know me, she had to have been from the future as well, but that doesn't make any sense!' Chibi-Usa jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, stirring her from her thoughts.

"Are you alright?"

The pink haired girl nodded slowly, "Yeah, I was just thinking…" She paused before remembering what the other girl said to start her previous train of thought, "I'm sorry but I can promise you that I've never traveled to the past before. I wasn't even aware that I _had_ traveled back in time until it became all too apparent…"

"You didn't intentionally travel to the past?" Hotaru asked curiously.

Chibi-Usa shook her head, "No, one minute I was running away…" she stopped when she realized where that sentence would lead, but it was already too late.

"What were you running from?"

The pink haired girl sighed as she tried to think of what to say, she could almost feel the other girl's eyes on her awaiting her answer. She looked at her feet, "It was a bad person. As I ran I somehow end up here."

"I thought the new Silver Millennium was a utopia, a place free of evil?"

She shook her head slowly, "No, there are still bad people. Mama told me that even in a land ruled by light, there will still be darkness. One can not exist without the other."

Hotaru smiled, "That's just like Usagi-san, but I guess she'd be Queen Serenity in the future though."

The future Princess smiled to as the topic changed to her mother. She nodded her head and looked at the girl beside her, "She's so wise and beautiful. I just hope I'm as wise when I'm Queen."

"I'm sure you'll be a great Queen" Hotaru quickly assured the other girl.

She smiled at the other girl's words, even if she wasn't that sure herself. "It was weird seeing her fight as Sailor Moon though." She said making a weird face before turning to her companion, "She's not a very good fighter is she?"

"Sailor Moon's strength doesn't lay in her fighting prowess…it lies in her heart. She has an unbelievable capacity for love and forgiveness…even for our enemies." Chibi-Usa nodded her head as she listened to Hotaru describe Sailor Moon. "Rei-san said that you can't transform, is that true?"

Chibi-Usa nodded her head slowly, "Yeah, everyone seems to know I can, but I've never been able to. I've been trying for several decades now."

"Several _decades_?" Hotaru repeated unsure that she'd heard the girl correctly.

She nodded her head, "Yeah. Though my appearance is that of someone in their early teens, I'm actually much older."

"How old are you then?"

"I'll be 900 in about a month. It's natural for those of us with eternal star seeds to stop aging because we are virtually immortal, though it usually occurs when we reach our early twenties, at least that's what Ami-chan told me. She hasn't been able to figure out why I stopped aging when I did." Chibi-Usa explained. Hotaru tried to digest what she was just told, but before she really could, she was caught off guard by another question.

"Can I see what you look like as a senshi?"

Hotaru stared at the other girl, "Why are you asking so suddenly?"

The pink haired girl looked down, "I thought if I saw you as a senshi…I might recognize you…"

Hotaru stood up, drawing the other girl's attention, "Alright." She took a quick look around before saying, "I shouldn't do it right here though…"

The future Princess followed after the other girl as she walked away from the bench. They walked until they found a small clearing a short distance away. It was surrounded by a number of tall trees and bushes, giving them a good amount of cover. Hotaru took one last look around to make sure they were alone before she held her hand up in the air and called out…

"Saturn Crystal Power, Makeup!"

Chibi-Usa squinted her eyes as she watched the other girl's transformation. She couldn't actually _see_ much of it, but she could see that she was surrounded by a beautiful purple light. It didn't take very long before the light faded and she could see Hotaru again, now fully transformed. The dark haired girl held her right hand out to her side and in mere moments pole began to materialize in her hand. Chibi-Usa watched in awe as the girl's weapon fully realized itself. The pole stood slightly taller than Hotaru, but the curved blade on the top of it added several more inches making the weapon appear much taller than her. She was pulled out of thoughts about the other girl's transformation by her voice.

"Do you recognize me?"

Chibi-Usa blinked a few times before looking over the Sailor Senshi before her. She did as she did the first time she saw the dark haired girl, she racked her brain for any knowledge on the senshi before her, but just as before she came up empty. She lowered her head slightly and dejectedly shook her head, no. She could see the look of disappointment on the Sailor Senshi's face, so she said the only thing she could, "I'm sorry."

Saturn's face brightened when she heard the tone of the other girl's voice. There was no reason for her to feel sorry, if she didn't remember her, it wasn't her fault. "Hey, it was worth a shot."

"You're disappointed though." She said and looked down slightly.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't, but I don't hold you responsible for what you don't even remember."

Chibi-Usa looked up quickly and asked, "Can I ask you something then?" There was a question she had on her mind since she saw the other girl transform into a Sailor Senshi.

"Sure. What is it?" Saturn replied.

"What is your title?"

She was a little surprised at first, but then she realized that she hadn't introduced herself after she transformed. Saturn looked at the future Princess calmly and planted her Silence Glaive firmly in the ground, but continued to hold it as she put her hand over the bow on her chest and bowed slightly. She kept her head lowered as she spoke, "I am Sailor Saturn, the senshi of death and rebirth." She looked over to her pink haired companion, only to see she was looking away from her, 'Did I say something wrong?' she questioned herself.

"You needn't be so formal." She said while she continued stare away. After a moment she looked at the dark haired senshi of Saturn, her cheeks holding a faint tinge of pink to them.

"Am I embarrassing you, Princess?" She said a little teasingly before undoing her transformation.

"Sort of…none of the senshi are so formal with me, unless we are at court." Chibi-Usa said honestly and looked back at her companion. "You're a powerful solider though, I can tell. Are you stronger than Rei-mama?"

Hotaru looked to the sky for a moment, seemingly in thought. "In a combat situation, Rei-san would and _has_ wiped the floor with me, but if you're talking in pure destructive power yes, I would be stronger. However, it doesn't matter though because I can't use my full power anyway."

"Why not?"

"My full power is meant to bring about an end to everything. I would destroy everything so that everything can begin again. That is my true purpose as a senshi." Hotaru explained. She became silent for a few seconds before she added, "There's only been one time that I've ever had to use all of my power and I hope there never comes a time where I will need to again. There was almost a second time though…"

Chibi-Usa stared in wonder at the other girl; it was a lot to have on one person's shoulders. She couldn't help but be intrigued by what she meant that there _almost_ was a second time, so the question left her lips before she could even think about it further, "What happened that second time?"

"Usagi-san saved me." Hotaru said proudly and paused for a moment before explaining in more detail, "There was a very powerful enemy trying to invade from outside our solar system and things were bad. Sailor Moon lost a lot of her power and she couldn't defeat him. I couldn't let him destroy this planet. I became Sailor Saturn and met him before he could reach Earth. I fought with him for some time but before long I realized what I had to…I had to end everything. I prepared drop my Silence Glaive, but she stopped me from completing my attack and together we destroyed him. But I'd used all of my power and I was sure I was going to die…but she saved me. Usagi-san saved me. I don't know what happened exactly, but I reverted to a baby somehow…I couldn't tell you how and I don't think Usagi-san could either." Hotaru finished by taking a deep breath and adding, "I don't take my power lightly. I said that I hope I never have to use it again and that is true, but I will if I have to…"

Chibi-Usa stared at the dark haired girl wonder. She was truly a solider. There was an unshakable resolve in her eyes, she could see it. Even if she didn't wish to do it, she would accomplish the duty assigned to her as a Sailor Senshi. She couldn't help but think about herself and her inability to transform. Her gaze traveled downward as she thought, 'No wonder I can't become a Sailor Senshi. How can I hope to inherit the mantle left by my mother?' She lifted her head again focused on the girl beside her, 'If I can prove myself to have half the spirit Hotaru has, I'll surely be able to transform…' Hotaru finally smiled again and Chibi-Usa felt herself thinking that face suited her much more than her previous serious face.

"Enough depressing talk, it's nearly three thirty and…" Chibi-Usa stood up unexpectedly causing Hotaru to cut her statement short.

"What? It's that late already?"

"What is it? What's wrong?" Hotaru asked, standing up beside the other girl.

"Rei-mama told me to stay at the shrine until she got back from school and she should be back any minute now. If she sees that I'm not there…" She stopped when she heard a beeping noise and looked at Hotaru curiously.

The dark haired girl quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out her communicator. She opened the device and saw Rei's face…

* * *

Rei entered her room and put her bag down by the door, "Chibi-Usa…I'm back!" She called and looked around for any sign of the pink haired girl, but came up empty. 'She wasn't in the courtyard, was she?' She thought and left her room. She quickly headed for the main shrine's exit and before she knew it, she was outside. She did a quick scan of the grounds, but couldn't find any sign of the girl she was looking for. However, she did spot her grandfather near the steps to the shrine and hurried over to him, "Jii-chan!"

The old man turned around, "What's wrong Rei?"

"Usagi's cousin, you know the girl with pink hair, have you seen her around anywhere?"

"Oh, she left about two hours ago. I was going to ask her why she was leaving without saying goodbye." He said casually.

"She didn't say anything?" Rei asked quickly, but her grandfather just shook his head. She held her tongue, but she really felt like cursing. "Thanks Jii-chan" She said and ran back inside.

'Why would she leave? She agreed to stay here.' She thought to herself as she made it back to her room in record time. As soon as she got inside she pulled out her communicator…

"Attention everyone, I need you're help. I don't know where Chibi-Usa is. She was supposed to stay at the jinja, but isn't here. I need everyone's help to find her."

* * *

Hotaru looked at Chibi-Usa after Rei's voice cut out. It seemed as though Rei was already home and wasn't wasting any time calling everyone to search for the girl beside her. She looked her communicator again a pressed a couple buttons. In a few moments she began to speak…

"Rei-san, it's alright. She's with me."

There was short silence over the device, before Rei's voice could be heard…

"Hotaru…how did you find her so quickly?"

She shook her head at the question, "No, we've been together for a while now. We've just been talking." Hotaru could hear the other girl sigh after she said that.

"Could you bring her here? I'd like to have a word with her."

Hotaru looked over to her companion, who had a look on her face like she knew she was going to be scolded. She turned back the device in her hand, "We'll be at the jinja shortly." She said and put the circular object in her pocket again. She walked over to the pink haired girl across from her and put her hand on her shoulder, "Come on, let's go back the jinja."

* * *

Rei lowered her head and sighed quietly, before looking at her communicator again and pressed a few buttons to contact the rest of senshi sans Hotaru. Once she was connected she said, "False alarm everyone. She's with Hotaru. I'm sorry to have worried everyone." She got the girls' responses almost immediately; needless to say there was universal relief from the group. "Thanks everyone."

After everyone else had disconnected, Usagi's face came on the screen, "I'm still coming over, Rei. I'll be there in about ten minutes."

Rei nodded, "See you then Usa." She said and closed her communicator. She sat on her futon and rubbed her temples, 'What am I supposed to do if she won't keep her word?' she thought and fell back on her futon. She lay on her back staring up at the ceiling almost hoping to find her answer there. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, 'I don't think I'm ready for this kind of thing…' As soon as she finished that thought, she heard a knock on her door.

"Rei, it's me."

She smiled and got off her futon. She walked over to the door and opened it. She motioned for Usagi to come inside; she closed the door after wards and followed her girlfriend to her futon. Once they were both sitting down, Usagi asked, "What happened?"

Rei shook her head, "I don't know." She looked down as she added, "Usa, she told me that she'd stay here, but she didn't keep her word…I don't what to say to her…"

Usagi shifted closer to Rei and put her hands on her cheeks. She looked straight into her amethyst eyes, "Tell her how you felt when you realized she was missing. I think that's really all she'll need to hear." She said and smiled reassuringly.

Rei was going to say something when there was another knock on her door. Again Rei walked over to her door and opened it. She looked at both girls for a moment before addressing one of them, "Hotaru, do you think you can wait right here while we talk to Chibi-Usa?" The dark haired girl nodded and stepped away from the door, she chose to stand next to it in the hall. Rei moved aside to let the younger girl inside. Chibi-Usa saw her mother sitting on the futon and once she was inside, she heard the door slid closed.

Rei walked over to Usagi and sat on the futon beside her, "Why didn't you leave a note or anything? Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

"….I'm sorry." Chibi-Usa said quietly. That really the only defense she could offer up, it was weak…she knew that, but it was only thing she could say.

"You can't ever do that again." Rei said seriously

The pink haired girl nodded her head before turning gaze downward. 'I've disappoi…' Her thoughts were cut short when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She looked up and saw her mother holding her.

"I'm really glad nothing happened to you." Rei said quietly and hugged the other girl tighter. Chibi-Usa's eyes watered and she buried her face in her mother's chest.

Usagi shook her head slightly, 'You're nothing but a big softy after all.' She thought as she watched the two girls.

* * *

_Elsewhere_

A tall man stepped through a tent's entrance and looked around. He didn't see who he was expecting to see, making him wonder if he was directed into the wrong tent. "Where is the commander?"

"You needed concern yourself. I'll be giving the orders around here from here on out." Heliodor said calmly and watched the other man sit down across from him. "I understand you were also sent after the Princess…what did you learn?"

He nodded his head quickly, "Yes…" he said and explained what he knew about what transpired. When he was done the other man spoke…

"You are certain one of the warriors that defeated our tracker was Mars?"

"I am. My psychometry is never wrong. The other warrior bore a striking resemblance to the Queen Serenity, but I wasn't aware she could take the form of a warrior as well."

"That's good work…" Heliodor said trailing off at the end, unsure of his companion's name.

"Nabesite, sir."

"Nabesite." He repeated and stood up. "You have a useful ability for a Shade." He said as he walked to the exit of his tent. He pulled back the cloth on one side before saying, "I'll call upon you when I need your services again."

"What is our next course of action?"

"Let me worry about strategy. You simply must be ready when you're needed again." He said and directed him to leave. He watched him exit before walking back to where he sat before, 'If she's going to be protected by them…I'll need to go about this differently than I originally planned.'

End Ch.3

* * *

This chapter was very talky…but I guess that's because a good portion of this chapter was taken up by Chibi-Usa and Hotaru's conversation.

Oh I think I mentioned this in the last story, but I do mix manga facts with anime facts. Whether I use one or the other has only to do with which I like better because there are parts where I like one over the other, but then the other times where a particular event may be a combination of the manga and anime. I don't really have much to say beyond that, expect that I hope everyone enjoyed this installment :) Until next time!


	4. Times They are a Changin’

Chapter 4 – Times They are a Changin'

* * *

Usagi watched the two girls embrace a little longer before coughing quietly into her hand, drawing the two girl's attention. "Sorry to interrupt, but it'd be polite to ask Hotaru if she'd like to come inside as well."

Rei looked over to her girlfriend before releasing Chibi-Usa, "I almost forgot she was outside. I'll go invite her in." She said and headed to the door.

Once Rei walked over to her bedroom door, Usagi looked at the pink haired girl standing a short distance from her. "Can you come over here for a second, Chibi-Usa?"

Rei slid open her bedroom door and looked into the hallway. Hotaru was leaning against the wall beside the door, but jumped away from it slightly when she heard the door open.

"Did I scary you?"

Hotaru shook her head, "No, I was just lost in my thoughts."

Rei nodded, "Come on in. Sorry for making you wait." She moved aside and motioned for the other girl to enter.

The younger girl quickly shook her head, "Its fine. I understand you needed to speak to Chibi-Usa alone."

Once they both stepped inside, they saw that Chibi-Usa and Usagi were talking to each other; though it seemed as though Usagi was the one doing most of the talking. Rei turned her attention to Hotaru, "Let's give them a few more minutes." She said and led her companion away from her futon, towards her closet.

"That's actually better, because I wanted to talk to you about something anyway." Hotaru said.

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

Hotaru looked over to the other two girls in the room, before turning back to Rei. She took a deep breath and whispered, "Chibi-Usa."

"Did something happen earlier?"

The younger girl shook, "No, nothing _happened_. It's just what she said to me while we were talking." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Rei-san, she's thoroughly convinced that she's never been to the past. She told me herself."

Rei turned her attention to the girl they were discussing, she was currently hugging Usagi, it seemed they were done talking. "Maybe…" she whispered.

Hotaru stared at the senshi of flame with a curious expression, "I'm sorry…what?"

Rei smiled and turned to look at the girl beside her, "It's nothing, just thinking out loud. I won't deny that it's been something I've thought about ever since she showed up. She seems to be a completely different person, with different memories and everything. I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to keep trying to figure everything out. I get the feeling there's more going on then we know."

"Rei…" Hotaru began to say, but stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, I promise we'll figure what's going on…and I never break my promises." Rei said and put her arm around the shorter girl's shoulder and lead her over Usagi and Chibi-Usa.

Chibi-Usa turned her attention to her future mother. After a couple seconds she nodded her head and walked over. Usagi patted the spot on the futon beside where she sat, urging the other girl to sit there. The pink haired girl sat in the offered spot and gave Usagi her full attention.

Usagi closed her eyes for a second before saying, "I'm not sure your reason going off by yourself, but that's not something you can do again."

"I didn't mean to cause any trouble…"

Usagi shook her head, "I don't care about that. We'd use all of our power to find you no matter the reason. I'm saying that you can't do something like that to Rei again. If you were going to leave you should have left a note or something."

Chibi-Usa looked down as she said, "I don't intend to be gone as long as I was."

"Still that's no excuse, especially after Rei asked you not to leave."

The pinked girl nodded her head slightly, "I know…I was just…"

Usagi watched her future daughter carefully as her sentence trailed off trying to figure out where she was going. "What is it?"

"I…" She paused and hazarded a look at the woman next to her. She didn't know what she was looking for, but in her eyes she saw only concern and curiosity, prompting her to finish her thought, "I just wanted to understand what happened here in the past; what _I_ did that I don't remember." The younger girl said, adding extra emphasis when referring to what 'she' did in the past.

"That's not something you need to do on your own. We, all of the Sailor Senshi, will help with that."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tried to figure things out all by myself."

"I promise none of us will pressure you to remember anything and in return I want you to come to me or Rei or any of the other girls if you want help for anything. You don't have to do anything alone."

Chibi-Usa nodded her head before she felt herself being pulled into an embrace. She smiled as she felt her mother's warmth wash over her. She thought about telling her that she knew she wouldn't remember anything, but she only considered it for a nanosecond, she didn't want to dampen the moment.

"Is everything alright?" Rei asked drawing the two girl's attention.

Usagi let go of the pink haired girl and smiled, "Yep."

* * *

Heliodor stepped out of his makeshift command post and look at the stars for a moment before walking back inside. After a second, a bright light flashed from within and Heliodor exited the tent again, this time with a large creature following behind him. He took a couple steps away before turning back, "Keep order while I'm gone." He said before disappearing. Within moments he reappeared in a completely different location. It was dark, the place he arrived. It seemed cave like, but with so little light it was almost impossible to be sure. Heliodor took a few steps forward, undaunted by the darkness; in fact he seemed to be most comfortable in it. After a quick look around, he opened his mouth as to say something, but that was when another voice spoke.

"You're late." Announced a voice.

Heliodor looked into the direction of the voice and smiled, "I believe I'm on time." He couldn't see the figure clearly, but he knew full well who was talking to him.

"You're thirty seven seconds late."

"Oww, come on Maxi-chawn don't be so picky. Not everyone can be as punctual as you."

"Don't call me that." The voice hissed.

"Would both of you shut up?" *YAWN* "You're giving me a headache." A new figure said in a distinctly feminine voice as it approached, sitting down after a couple more steps.

"Are we keeping you awake?" Heliodor asked, a little condescendingly.

The sitting figure simply shrugged indifferently, "I could think of about a dozen things I'd rather be doing right now than be talking to you two."

"Why you…" Heliodor started to say, but paused when he felt a hand on his shoulder. There only existed one that could sneak behind him without noticing and he wasn't about to fight that person.

"I wouldn't try anything if I were you. You know full well where you stand." The new figure cautioned and removed their hand from his shoulder.

"Oh…let him try…" The one sitting complained but paused for a moment before speaking seriously for the first time, "I **want **him to try."

"Stop taunting him or I'll be forced to put you in your place again." The newest one to arrive said warningly.

"Pfft…you're no fun." The one sitting said.

After a few minutes of silence, Heliodor spoke again, "So where's…." He began only to be cut off mid-sentence.

"I'm right here."

All four who'd already arrived immediately came to attention at the new voice. They each bowed on one knee and silently waited to be addressed again. After the silence dragged on a little longer the newest member of their group spoke again. "Heliodor, stand."

He quickly did as commanded and waited for the next command, which came quickly. "Heliodor, we are here to hear what you've learned about the Princess' whereabouts."

"Of course, it appears the Princess somehow managed to escape our grasp by traveling to the past."

"How is that possible? All of our intelligence showed that she has no powers." Said the voice of the second to last to arrive.

Heliodor shook his head, "I am unsure as to _how_ she accomplished that feat at the moment, but I'm looking into it. It's most likely that she had aid in her escape, but I'm unaware of any of the court having such a power."

"What does it matter _how_…we need that brat!" one of the darken figures said irritably.

"You aren't really suggesting that _how_ she achieved such a feat is unimportant. Are you're implying, it doesn't matter whether we know the abilities of our enemy or not. What if they've been hiding something…?"

"Both of you shut up!" The last one of the group to arrive yelled and slammed the staff in their hand into the ground, knocking the two who were arguing to the ground. "What is your next plan of action, Heliodor?"

Once he picked himself off the ground, he quickly said, "I wish to decipher the current strength of the warriors that are protecting her and once I do that, I'll know what level of force I must use to acquire the Princess from their protection. I plan to send a number of youma of varying strength and measure their strength by how long it takes for them to defeat them."

"Why not just go and get the Princess yourself?" Asked the one Heliodor referred to as Maxi-chawn earlier.

Heliodor laughed at the question immediately before replying, "I'm not foolish enough to fight them without knowing where they stand. I'm not going to throw myself into the fire without understanding their strength."

"Proceed as you've planned. If they truly are who you say…I'm also interested in their current abilities." Once that was said the last to arrive became the first to leave.

Heliodor looked at his remaining companions, "I guess I've got work to do." He said and smirked before disappearing.

"Does anyone really believe he'll succeed?"

"Oh come on let's have faith in…ha ha ha…I can't even say it with a straight face."

"Of course he won't succeed, but that's when we'll get our opportunity…"

* * *

"Whatcha doing Minako?" Artemis asked after jumping on the desk where the girl in question sat.

"Homework." The blond haired girl replied simply.

"Oh…can I ask you something?"

Minako didn't even put down her pencil as she said, "Sure."

"You almost seemed disappointed when Rei called off the search for Chibi-Usa."

This time she put down her pencil and looked at the cat sitting in front of her, "That's not true. I was just relieved to hear that she was safe."

The white cat cocked his head slightly, "I'm not saying you weren't relieved, but are you sure that's all?"

Artemis had debated with himself whether to confront his charge with her reaction after Rei's communication, but her initial response to his question urged him to press forward. He missed the days when she would come to him about what was on her mind, rather than him having to almost pry the information out of her. 'Maybe it's because she's older…' He thought to himself. Although, he'd anticipated she would be more open with him as she got older, on the other hand it could just be a teen age girl thing.

Minako crossed her arms and stared at Artemis, "What are you trying to say? Please just tell me."

"Why don't you tell me? I've known you for a long time now and I know when something is off." Artemis countered.

Minako stared at the white cat, "Well you need to get your 'kitty-sense' fixed, cause nothing's _off_." She said and went back to writing on paper in front of her. She continued to write, though she could feel the cat's eyes on her. She tried to ignore him, but despite her efforts she found herself only able to do so for so long. Minako sighed, "What do you want me to say?"

"Whatever it is that you're feeling."

Minako lowered her head for a moment before focusing back on the white cat, "Artemis, there is nothing wrong, if anything…I'm just a little a little disappointed we're not hanging out tonight, but it's nothing. We don't have to spend every second with each other; we're going to be together for a long time. I don't want to be a third wheel to any of them either."

"You wouldn't…"

The blond shook her head, "I told you already its fine."

This time it was Artemis' turn to sigh, "Alright Minako, if you say its fine, I guess its fine." He'd leave it at that for now…

Minako nodded her head slightly and turned back to her homework. After just a short time longer, she put her pencil down, "That's done. I hate homework, it just another way for teachers to torture us." She said and walked over to her bed. She threw herself onto the mattress. She landed on her stomach, but quickly turned on to her side, looking towards the desk across from her bed. She saw Artemis still sitting atop the piece of furniture, bringing a question to her mind that was too tempting not to ask, "So, Artemis have you talked to Luna?" Minako supported her head with her hand as she stared at the feline waiting for an answer.

The small white cat was a little surprised by the question, though he should have expected her to ask sooner or later. "Yes actually. Why?" He asked even though he suspected his charge's next question.

"How has she taken Usagi and Rei?" She asked seriously.

Artemis jumped down from his position on the desk and approached Minako's bed, "Actually, really well, much better than I expected. She told me about some of the bad nights Usagi had while Rei was kidnapped and about the night Rei stayed at Usagi's when she finally returned. She said that she didn't let Usagi know she was there, but she watched Usagi with Rei and heard her talking to her. After everything she saw and heard she knew there wouldn't be anything she could say that would change Usagi's feelings even if she wanted to."

Minako smiled and rolled onto her back, "I'm glad. Their love _is_ true, Artemis, I feel it every time I'm near either of them."

Artemis nodded his head, he'd been told that multiple times, it wasn't like Minako was trying to convince herself or anything, she already _knew_ and he understood that. The future Usagi was "_meant_" to share with Mamoru wasn't something easily changed and yet things had clearly changed. The _destined_ couple was no longer a couple, they lost one of their own, Sailor Pluto, and as Minako had told him just the day before Chibi-Usa returned from the future, but she wasn't the same girl they remembered. Apparently, she was now somehow both Rei and Usagi's daughter. He wasn't entirely sure how it was possible, but her existence seems to cement their union. "Minako?"

The blonde teenager turned her head to the left, "Hmm?"

"You know I'll be here if you ever need to talk about anything."

Minako smiled before looked back up at her room's ceiling, "Thanks, but I already knew that, Artemis."

* * *

"You two don't need anymore time to talk, do you?" Rei asked.

Usagi shook her head, "No, I think Chibi-Usa understands what we were talking about." She said followed by a quick nod from the pink haired girl beside her. Usagi stood up and walked over to Rei, prompting Hotaru to step away, towards the other girl's futon. Usagi put her hand on her girlfriend's forearm, squeezing it slightly, drawing the other girl's attention.

"What is it?" Rei asked quietly.

Usagi looked at Rei as she said, "There's something I want to do and I want to come with me, but we can talk about it on the way." Afterwards, she turned back to two younger girls in the room, "Rei and I have to go somewhere for just a little while. So, Hotaru, do you think you'd be able to stay here and keep Chibi-Usa company for a little while?"

The pink haired girl quickly spoke, "Is something wrong?"

Usagi shook her head, "It's nothing like that. There's just something we have to do, just the two of us."

"I don't mind staying; I just need to tell Haruka and Michiru though." Hotaru said and sat next to Chibi-Usa.

"Feel free to use my phone." Rei said motioning toward the phone near where the younger girl sat.

Hotaru nodded, "Thanks."

"Alright, we'll be going now. We shouldn't be that long." Usagi said and lead her girlfriend out the door.

Once they were in the hall and shut the door, Rei turned to Usagi, "So, where exactly are we going?"

"Mamoru's apartment." The blond haired girl said calmly.

"You want to tell him about Chibi-Usa." Rei theorized aloud, causing the other girl to shake her head silently. After that, the two girls became to make their way to the shrine's exit.

* * *

Once they were alone Chibi-Usa asked, "Where do you think they're going?"

Hotaru smiled at her reassuringly, she had a guess but if Usagi didn't want to say she didn't have the right to say her theory, "I don't know. They may just want some time alone."

The pink haired girl frowned and flopped back onto the futon. She swung her legs slightly, as they no longer touched the ground as she leaned back. She lay like that for a few minutes before sitting up abruptly and staring over to Hotaru, "Do you want to follow them?" she asked mischievously.

Hotaru laughed a little at the question, and immediately she understood the alerter motive Usagi probably had in asking her to stay. Eventually she shook her head, "I don't think that would be a good idea, especially so soon after what happened earlier."

"But I wouldn't be going out alone this time, you'd be with me and I'm sure you can handle any dangers we might encounter." Chibi-Usa countered, trying to show this was a completely different circumstance.

Hotaru looked at the girl beside her, "I'd certainly protect you from harm…" She said seriously, more serious than the pink haired girl expected to hear. After only a brief pause Hotaru broke eye contact and added, "But Usagi-san asked me to stay _here_ with you and I can't simply disobey her request."

Chibi-Usa sat silently for several seconds before finally conceding, "Okay we don't have to follow them." She wasn't being completely serious about following them in the first place and she didn't want to say anything else that might accidentally strike a nerve for the other girl.

The dark haired girl nodded slightly and reached for the phone near her, "I should really call Haruka and Michiru now though."

* * *

Heliodor walked in front of a line of five creatures. He looked over each as he walked past them. Once he reached the last one, he turned around and walked back until he was standing front and center to them, "All of you have been chosen for a very important mission." He paused and observed everyone, "You will soon travel to a distant place, where you will fight. Destroy everything in your path!" He said causing the group before him to cheer.

"When you meet the royal guard and I promise you, you _will _meet them, it will be all of your responsibilities to kill them. I expect all of you to work together to accomplish this. If any fall, I expect those that remain to press on until their dieing breath as well." Heliodor pause once more before adding, "That is all. Be ready when the path is opened, because that is when you will be called on to fight! Dismissed!" He watched the creatures leave and once all were gone, he turned away and walked over to his tent.

"That was quite a rousing speech, sir." Nabesite said admiringly.

Heliodor smiled, "Is that so? Did it also encourage you then?"

"Of course, sir!"

This time Heliodor laughed before saying, "Good, because you'll be going with them."

"I-I'm sorry, sir. I usually do my best work after everything has finished." Nabesite stammered, clearly surprised to hear he'd be at the front lines.

"I don't intent for you to fight…" He said and paused for a moment before quietly adding, "I want you to observe. That's what you do correct?"

He quickly nodded his head, "Y-Yes."

"And that's all I expect you to do here. Once all of them are dead, I want you to return and report back _everything_ you saw." Heliodor explained.

* * *

Michiru hung up the phone and sat down beside Haruka again, "It seems Hotaru is going to spend some time at Rei's with Chibi-Usa."

"Well, that's good." Haruka said and put her arm around her lover.

Michiru nodded her head, "Yeah…"

"You're still worried about her though." The blonde haired woman stated.

"And you aren't?" Michiru countered.

"Of course I am, but the fact that she's communicating with Chibi-Usa is a good thing. She was upset that she didn't know Hotaru as well, last night. Hopefully together, they can work on figuring out why that is." Haruka explained.

Michiru nodded, "I hope so…"

* * *

Ami walked over to the couch Makoto sat, "How about Friday?" the blue haired girl asked out of the blue.

Makoto looked over her shoulder to the other girl, "What do you mean?"

Ami sat down beside her girlfriend, "Well, I was thinking that we should have dinner over at my place…with my mother." She added the last part almost as a whisper.

"Oh…as long as you're ready, so am I."

The blue haired girl immediately heard the hesitation in her girlfriend's voice, "I'm not rushing you into this am I?"

The senshi of protection quickly shook her head, trying to dispel any concerns her lover was feeling. "No, you're not. I just want _you_ to be sure."

"I am. I want to be able to take you home and not be afraid of my mother walking in on us in an…_intimate_…moment. I don't want to be afraid to show affection to you because I'm afraid my mother will find out that way. I want to be the one to tell her. I don't want her to stumble onto something and find out like that. You understand, right?"

Makoto moved closer to her love and put her arm around her shoulders, "Of course, I do Ames. I didn't want it to sound like I wanted to hide anything. I'd scream a declaration of my love for you from the top of Tokyo Tower, if you asked me."

Ami giggled a little at the other girl's declaration, "I certainly wouldn't ask you to do that, I promise." She said and paused for a short time before saying, "I just don't want to hide my feelings for you from my mother anymore. It just seems like it'd be more official if we do the family introduction thing, you know?"

Makoto nodded her head, "Yeah." She said and held the other girl a little tighter. The two girls stayed like that for some time before Ami put her hand on Makoto's thigh, prompting her to let her go.

"I'm a little thirsty, did you want anything?" Ami asked as she got up and took a step towards the kitchen.

Makoto shook her head, "No, I'm fine thanks." She said and watched Ami head to the kitchen before getting up herself. She walked to the right, to a wall that contained a number of shelves with several picture frames. She stood there silently for a couple seconds before reaching her hand out and tracing the frame of one picture with her forefinger. There were only two people in that particular photograph, a man and woman. The man was hugging the woman from behind and both were smiling brightly for the picture.

Ami entered the living room once more and saw her girlfriend standing in front of a shelf of photos. She placed her bottle of water on the coffee table and walked over to her love quietly. Despite how quiet she was being, she must have done something to warn the other girl of her presence because before she reached her, she heard her speak to her.

"I wish they could have met you."

Ami stepped up to the taller girl's back and slipped her arms around the other girl's waist. She held the other girl genially, pressed against her back, and rested her head on the brunette's shoulder. "I wish I could have met them. They had to have been wonderful people to have created you."

Makoto smiled to herself and just enjoyed the warmth of her lover on her back for a short time before quietly asking, "Do you think your mother will like me?"

"Oh, I know she already likes you…"

"As your friend yes…but what about as your girlfriend?"

Ami finally let go of the taller girl and reach up to her shoulders and turned the other girl around so she could look her in the eyes. As soon as she was facing her, she put her hand on Makoto's cheeks, "I love you and so will my mother. You can trust me when I say you have nothing to worry about there."

Makoto smiled, "Thank Ames." She followed that up by leaning down and kissing the shorter girl.

* * *

"Do you want me to come with you?"

Usagi shook her head quickly, "No, I don't think it would be a good idea. I mean, it might be a little too much a once."

Rei nodded, "You're probably right. I don't want this to be any harder than it already is."

"Thanks Rei." The blond teenager said and immediately followed her statement up by hugging the darker haired girl.

After a short few seconds Usagi pulled away and took a couple steps toward the elevator before being stalled by Rei's hand holding her own. She looked at her girlfriend curiously, while Rei smiled back at her and said, "Take as long as you need, I'm not going anywhere. I'll be in the lobby."

It was Usagi's turn to smile as she said, "Thanks. I will try to be quick though, because I don't think prolonging this will make things easier." With that they released each other's hands and Usagi walked over to the elevator. She pressed the arrow pointing up when she arrived and waited patiently for her transportation to come. It couldn't have been more than ten seconds before a ding sounded and the doors opened. She stepped inside and quickly pushed the floor number and turn forward once more, seeing Rei give her one more smile before the doors closed.

Rei walked over to one of the empty chairs in the lobby, sat down, and prepared to wait. There was a time not too long ago when she would have been jealous of the Prince of Earth spending time with Usagi, especially alone, but she was happy to honestly admit there was no jealousy in her heart at the moment. Of course, that could also have to do with the subject her girlfriend intended to discuss with Mamoru, Chibi-Usa. More specifically Chibi-Usa's parentage. Rei sighed; perhaps her time alone waiting for Usagi would give her more time to reflect on that herself…

* * *

Usagi stepped off the elevator and went to the left. She pasted half a dozen doors before reaching her desired destination. She knocked on an apartment door; one that she'd was very familiar with. She'd been there a number of times in the past, though none recently. She remembered spending a lot of time here with Chibi-Usa, those were good memories, but there were also some not so good ones as well, but she didn't want think about them. She took a deep breath as she anticipated her former boyfriend to open the door. It felt like it was taking him forever, though in actuality she knew it'd only been a few seconds. A passing thought crossed her mind, 'What if he isn't even home?' "Maybe I should have called beforehand…" She whispered to herself. As soon as the words left her lips though, she heard the door being unlocked. She took one more deep breath before expecting the door to be opened.

The door opened slowly, almost cautiously, and Mamoru stuck his head outside to see who was there. At first he wasn't sure he was seeing right so he asked her name aloud, "…Usagi?

"Yeah, may I come in?" The teen asked.

"T-This is a bit of a surprise." Mamoru said, stepping out of his apartment to formally greet his visitor.

"I'm sorry, I really should have called. Is this a bad time?" Usagi asked a little sheepishly.

The dark haired man shook his head, "No. No. It's fine; just give me a minute to make things a little more presentable." He said and disappeared inside his apartment once more. A few minutes passed before he emerged again and motioned for his former girlfriend to come inside. As she walked by he voiced a question that had been on his mind since he saw her _alone_, "Rei isn't with you?" Mamoru asked a little surprised.

"She's in the lobby; I thought it best that I come up alone though."

The Prince of Earth nodded, "That wasn't necessary…"

"I know. I just didn't want you to be uncomfortable."

He nodded once more. He knew better than to question her decision further, so instead he asked, "So what brings you here?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing…" Usagi said, trailing off at the end.

"That couldn't be all. I mean, you could have just called for that."

"Yes, I could have and you could easily lie over the phone." Usagi said matter-of-factly. After a few second pause she got down to her real reason for coming over, "However you're right, I do have another purpose for coming here. Some thing's happened that you need to be told about and I think it'd be unfair to you to tell you over the phone."

Mamoru inched forward in his chair, anticipating the younger girl's next statement. A number of things crossed his mind, but what was at the forefront of his thoughts was that whatever happened it was related to senshi business. While a part of him wished that wasn't the case, he couldn't deny that a couple battles with youma would make him feel more like things were before and that wouldn't be something all that bad as far as he was concerned. "Go on." He urged.

"It has to do with Chibi-Usa…" She started slowly, not wanted to unload everything at once.

The dark haired man was a little taken aback, "Ch-Chibi-Usa?" He leaned back into his chair, from his previous position near the edge of the seat.

"Well, she arrived from the future again, just yesterday."

"She's here! Can I go see her?" He asked quickly.

Usagi took a slow deep breath before responding, "I don't think that would be a problem, but there's something you need to know…"

"What do you…?" Even as the words left his mouth, he realized something was off. Usagi was holding something back…

"She's a little different from how you'd remember. She hasn't acted as childish as she did before. Though the most significant change would be how she addresses Rei and me." She paused and observed the man in front of her for a moment, "I'm sorry Mamoru, but it seems Rei and I are her…"

Before Usagi could actually say the words, Mamoru spoke, "What are you apologizing for? I-I guess that would only make sense…we're not together anymore, so why would she be mine and yours?" He paused and stared off past Usagi, "I'm glad she's still alive at least. I was a little worried about her."

"I'm sorry…" Usagi started to say, but was talked over.

"Usagi, do you think I could have some time alone?" He asked not really look at the girl he was addressing.

The Moon Princess nodded and stood up, "I'll be leaving then…" She walked over to the door and stopped, "If you want to talk, don't hesitate to call."

* * *

_DING _

Rei perked up again and stared at the elevator, waiting to see who was exiting this time. She came back down to Earth when she didn't spot Usagi. It had to have been around a dozen times she'd watched the elevator expectantly. It hadn't been that long since her girlfriend went up stairs, but she couldn't help but expect her to return already, even if it was unrealistic. She leaned back in the chair she was sitting in and gazed upwards.

'Chibi-Usa…'

There were still a number of questions she had about the young girl that she had yet to ask. She was afraid that most of her questions would have to remain without answers though because she had no intention of grilling Chibi-Usa for answers that aren't her responsibility to tell. There was only one person that could answer all her questions and she wasn't with them anymore. She didn't know how much if anything she could trust about the future they'd seen. They were very much in the dark about the future now…

_DING_

Rei looked over to the elevator again, not really expecting her girlfriend to be among the people getting off, but to her surprise she saw her walk out with the last group to leave. The raven haired girl jumped up from her seat and met her princess just shortly after she'd exited the elevator.

"How did it go?"

Usagi took a deep breath, "About as good as it could go…I guess."

Rei put her arm around the slightly shorter girl's shoulders, not caring what anyone might think for the time being. She held her love close, "It was better he heard it from you, but I'm sure it was still probably hard for him."

Usagi nodded slowly, "Yeah and there really wasn't anything I could say that would soften the news either."

"Like you said though, he had a right to be told." The raven haired girl said and began to walk her girlfriend to the apartment's exit.

The blond haired girl nodded once more, "I know. I just don't like having to hurt him…"

The two girls exited the apartment building in silence. When they reached the sidewalk and turned down the path that would lead them back to the jinja, Rei spoke again, "Do you think you'll ever look back and wonder if you made the wrong choice?"

Usagi smiled, "How could I have made the wrong choice if I'm with the person I love?" She asked as she looked up adoringly, causing Rei to turn as red as the fuku she wears as Sailor Mars. Usagi giggled at how red she made her girlfriend turn. After a few seconds she calmed herself enough to say, "Besides, I don't think it was really a _choice_…it was more like a need. When I realized how I felt, I needed to be with you, there was no other option."

Rei smiled brightly, "I didn't think it was possible, but I think I love you even more…" She tilted her head toward Usagi to allow their lips to meet when she heard a scream in front of them. Both girls stopped and looked forward and saw a large group of people running towards them. A couple people's screams could be made out…

"They're going to kill us!"

"Run for your lives!"

"Monsters! They're everywhere!"

Rei and Usagi immediately ran in the direction everyone else was running from. They reached the end of the block and could hear the screaming getting louder, there were also fewer people running toward them. They were getting closer. When they turned the corner they were met by a horrifying sight. There were at least a dozen abandoned cars in the street, a couple of which were over-turned and in flames, but that wasn't what sickened the two girls who just arrived. There were several bloodied and mangled bodies lying on the ground. Among the dead lay a young boy who couldn't have been more than five, but still the monsters responsible for this massacre didn't differentiate man, woman, or child.

Usagi felt her stomach retch at the sight before her; she had to will herself not to lose her lunch, a battle that she barely won. The disgusted look on Rei's face gave way to anger as she tried figure out who was responsible for this needless killing. Her amethyst eyes hardened as they found themselves fixated on a group of six youma a short distance down the street. The path they took was clear, as they left nothing but destruction in their wake. Rei quickly pulled out her henshin stick and shouted her transformation phrase.

"Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"

Usagi quickly swung her head around to look at the girl beside her, but only saw a streak of red zoom by her.

"Rei!" She called, but either she didn't hear her name being called or pretended not to, because she didn't react at all.

Usagi quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a round device. She pressed a couple buttons before speaking, "We've got trouble on…" Usagi looked around quickly for a street sign, "19th Street, near New Matsuya Pachinko Slots. There are several youma destroying the area! I need everyone here ASAP!" She yelled and put her communicator into her pocket, before grabbing her Crisis Compact and shouting…

"Crisis, Make Up!"

Once fully transformed, she ran after Mars.

End Ch. 4

* * *

I am very sorry for the extremely long wait for this chapter. When I finished this I couldn't help but be a little disappointed at how long it took and in the end it really just amounts to a setup chapter for chapter 5. There isn't really anything I can say about why this update took so long other than life can be sucky sometimes and when it is, I never really feel in the mood to write. I'd like to thank in advance those who have patiently waited for this chapter and have been patient with me even through this extremely long delay. God, after rereading those comments it sounds like I'm giving up, doesn't it? I promise that will never be the case.

It should be obvious what a large portion of the next chapter will be about…fighting. Fights are always fun to write, but tend to be very time consuming. I'm warning everyone ahead of time here, that chapter five may take a little while.

The only other thing I have say is that if you're still with me despite my delays, drop me a line in the form of a review or pm or whatever…until next time everybody!


	5. Protector

Chapter 5 – Protector

* * *

Rei and Usagi ran in the direction everyone else was running from. They reached the end of the block and could hear the screaming getting louder, there were also fewer people running toward them. They were getting closer. When they turned the corner they were met by a horrifying sight. There were at least a dozen abandoned cars in the street, a couple of which were over-turned and in flames, but that wasn't what sickened the two girls who just arrived. There were several bloodied and mangled bodies lying on the ground. Among the dead lay a young boy who couldn't have been more than five, but still the monsters responsible for this massacre didn't differentiate man, woman, or child.

Usagi felt her stomach retch at the sight before her; she had to will herself not to lose her lunch, a battle that she barely won. The disgusted look on Rei's face gave way to anger as she tried figure out who was responsible for this needless killing. Her amethyst eyes hardened as they found themselves fixated on a group of six youma a short distance down the street. The path they took was clear, as they left nothing but destruction in their wake. Rei quickly pulled out her henshin stick and shouted her transformation phrase.

"Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"

Usagi quickly swung her head around to look at the girl beside her, but only saw a streak of red zoom by her.

"Rei!" She called, but either she didn't hear her name being called or pretended not to, because she didn't react at all.

Usagi quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a round device. She pressed a couple buttons before speaking, "We've got trouble on…" Usagi looked around quickly for a street sign, "19th Street, near New Matsuya Pachinko Slots. There are several youma destroying the area! I need everyone here ASAP!" She yelled and put her communicator into her pocket, before grabbing her Crisis Compact and shouting…

"Crisis, Make Up!"

Once fully transformed, she ran after Mars.

'Geez…you could have at least waited for me…' Moon thought as she ran down her girlfriend.

* * *

"Fire Soul!"

Mars pointed her hand and the first youma she reached. The fire ball left her hand and flew straight into the back of its target. As soon as the attack connected the creature fell to the ground, drawing the attention of the four others walking near it. The four youma stopped and turned around to see what caused the other among them to end up face first on the ground. Once they'd all turned around their eyes locked with the Senshi of Fire. They stared at each other for a short time before Mars' gaze was drawn to the youma she'd hit with her attack. He was now in the process of getting up. When he stood up fully, he shook his head and patted his back a few times where the fire ball hit, before staring at the Senshi of Flame with a smile on his face. With her attention on one particular youma, another knelt down and slammed its fingers into the concrete, easily piercing the hard ground.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed another youma was doing something, though it looked as though he was simply kneeling, Mars readied herself. "I guess you need something stronger." She said and held out her right arm. Just as she was preparing to pull back the nearly invisible bow string, she felt the ground beneath her shake and lowered her arm. As soon as she changed from an offensive position, she could hear the kneeling youma say something…

"Foolish girl…"

Mars' eyes widened as she saw the pavement between her feet crack. She immediately performed a back flip to get herself away from her present position. As soon as she was in the air, she saw something shoot out of the ground. When she landed safely back on her feet, she again felt the ground shake, but this time she didn't waste anytime moving. She quickly flipped backwards once more and the same thing happened as it did before, something shot out of the ground. Once more when she touched back down, she could feel the ground moving beneath her. So, again she repeated as she'd done twice before three more times before she was able to land on steady ground.

Finally, given the opportunity to see exactly _what_ was trying to strike at her from the ground, she saw five spear-like objects protruding from the concrete. After a moment, the sharp spikes sunk back into the ground, in reverse of how they appeared, but from where they had come from. Mars watched the youma carefully, but focused on the one kneeling on one knee.

The creature pulled its fingers out of the ground, "That was some good reflexes."

Mars opened her mouth to say something back, but was cut off by another voice before she could…

"Why did you run off before I could even transform?" Moon asked, finally catching up to her girlfriend.

Mars turned around partially and addressed the Moon Princess, "I knew you'd catch me and I wanted to see what kinds of monsters were responsible to that meaningless slaughter."

Moon put her hand on Mars' shoulder, "I'm angry too, but we do this together. I already called the others for help and they should be here soon."

Mars nodded and looked at Moon, "I'm sorry." She apologized as she stared into the other girl's eyes. After just a few moments though her attention was focused on the group of creatures before them, "It's good you called the others…these guys don't seem to be pushovers."

* * *

Minako sat up quickly and grabbed her communicator from the top of her desk. She listened intently to Usagi's call. When she said her location, she quickly mentally thought out the quickest route to her. Even as she thought about how reach Usagi, and surely Rei as well, she listened to everything else the Moon Princess said, though there wasn't much after her location, aside from her telling everyone to get down there. Once the transmission ended, Minako turned off her communicator and leapt off her bed.

"Looks like I will get to see some action today after all!" Minako announced cheerfully. She looked at Artemis to see his reaction, she frowned when she saw him looked at her warily. "I was just joking." She explained to the white cat.

"I knew you were…" He replied.

Minako shook her head, knowing differently. "I guess it doesn't matter one way or another, Usagi needs help and I'm not going to keep her waiting." She said and held her henshin stick above her head…

"Venus Crystal Power, Make Up!"

Fully transformed, Venus looked down at the white cat sitting on her bed, "I'll be going now." The blond haired warrior said and without another word was out her window.

Artemis watched her leave before sighing, "Some guardian I am." He said to himself sarcastically.

* * *

Both Ami and Makoto stood up together from the love seat they sat on. Makoto quickly turned off the television and grabbed her keys from the coffee table in front of them. Ami took out her mini super computer and quickly typed something into the device, before hurrying after Makoto.

"Where's New Matsuya Pachinko Slots?" Makoto asked Ami as they headed for the front door.

"It's not too far here. It's actually near Mamoru's apartment." Ami stated.

Makoto quickly opened the door. Both girls exited the apartment and Makoto locked the door afterwards.

"Can your computer zero in on what we might be dealing with? Like how many enemies?" Makoto asked as they reached the side walk.

"Let me give it a shot…" Ami said and quickly typed a number of more buttons on the machine. She paused for a moment and waited for a response. After only a second or two, she got her answer, "It looks like there are five evil energy signatures near Usagi and Rei. A couple of them appear to be quite strong…" She added worriedly.

Makoto cursed silently, "We need to find some place out of the open to transform. It's five on two and if they are working together, it could be trouble for Rei and Usagi if none of us get there in time."

Ami nodded and quickly scanned the area for a good place from them to transform. "How about behind that building?" Ami asked pointing. She pointed to a nearby bar, "I don't believe they are open yet, so there shouldn't be anyone there to see us."

"Alright, let's go." Makoto said and quickly darted toward their destination. Once they arrived behind the building they took a quick look around the area and after finding no one in sight, they took out their henshin sticks.

"Jupiter Crystal Power, Make Up!"  
"Mercury Crystal Power, Make Up!"

Jupiter looked at Mercury for a second before saying, "Let's head there full speed, okay?"

Mercury nodded in agreement and in seconds both girls sped off to aid Rei and Usagi.

* * *

Haruka and Michiru both stood and took hold of their henshin sticks in their hands. Simultaneously they held the objects above their heads and called out their respective henshin phrases…

"Uranus Crystal Power, Make Up!"  
"Neptune Crystal Power, Make Up!"

"Drive or run?" Uranus asked quickly.

"It's not far from here; we can get there quicker if we run."

Uranus nodded her head and sprinted out the door, with Neptune following closely behind. They were blocks away from the home in a matter of seconds. After a couple more blocks whizzed by Neptune spoke aloud a question that was on her mind since hearing Usagi's communication. "Do you think this has anything to do with…?" Neptune asked trailing off at the end, fully knowing that her lover would understand what she was talking about.

Uranus shook her head, "I'm not sure, but I'll be damned if I let anything happen to them."

* * *

Hotaru stared at her communicator for a second before looking at the girl sitting beside her, "I've got to go, Rei and Usagi are in trouble." The dark haired girl leapt down from the futon and before her feet even touched the ground Chibi-Usa called out to her.

"I'm coming with you!"

She had a feeling that was coming, but she was ready to counter the other girl quickly, "No you aren't. I'm not going to take you to a fight."

Chibi-Usa stood up now and stepped in front of Hotaru, "I thought Mama told you to stay with me. And if you leave without me, I'll follow you."

"Don't kid around…" Hotaru started to say, but was cut off before finishing.

"I'm not kidding around, I _will_ follow you. So, it would be better to just take me along with you. Besides, I thought you said you could protect me from harm." The young pink haired girl countered.

"Of course, I'd protect you, but this isn't the same. I'd be taking you to a battlefield, things would be too chaotic and Usagi-san and Rei-san would kill me if I knowingly brought you to a fight especially since you can't transform." The dark haired girl said and lowered her head.

There was a silence between them for a short time before either girl spoke. Chibi-Usa lowered her head now, as she said, "I need to make sure they're safe."

Hotaru put her hand on Chibi-Usa's shoulder, causing her to look her in the eyes, "I'll make sure of that. I won't let them get hurt, I promise." She said and smiled at the end, causing the other girl do the same in return. However, Chibi-Usa's smile lasted a few short seconds before it faded…

"I know you will do your best, but I just…I just…" The pink haired princess bit her lower lip to control her emotions better. She didn't like how she felt about this fight; as soon as she heard her mother's frantic communication she didn't feel good about their fight. She just didn't know how to explain that easily to her new friend. She could feel her eyes fill with unwanted tears, more out of frustration than anything. She lowered her gaze; she didn't want the dark haired girl in front of her to see her like that.

"Fine…" Hotaru whispered quietly, almost so quietly the other girl in the room wasn't entirely sure she'd heard.

"What?"

Hotaru sighed, 'I hope I don't regret this…' she thought to herself before speaking aloud, "I'll take you with me, but there are some conditions you must follow…"

"Of course." Chibi-Usa said and nodded her head. She quickly wiped her eyes of any lingering wetness and focused on the girl's instructions.

"You have to listen to what I say and you have to promise me you'll stay out of sight." Hotaru said and looked at pink haired girl seriously.

"I will."

Hotaru nodded, "Let's get out of here then." She said and opened the door. "I'll tell Rei-san's grandfather something, so he's aware that we left."

* * *

"Be careful of the green one in the middle, he can do something with his fingers. He seems to be able to extend them a great length, plus they seemed to be quite sharp when he does it." Mars explained softly. "I'm not sure about the other four, because he was the only to attack me."

Moon nodded, "The numbers are on their side until the other girls arrive."

"We don't know how strong any of them are either." Mars remarked. She paused for a moment before whispering to her girlfriend, "I'm going to see if I can get some information out of them, like what they are doing here and if someone sent them here."

Mars took a step towards the group of youma, "What are you doing here?" She asked loudly, but was only met with laughter from a couple of the creatures. 'How about this?' The raven haired girl thought to herself. "Did someone send you here or are…?" Before she could finish her question she saw one of the youma raising his hand. After a second and ball of blue energy flew towards her and Moon.

"Fire Soul!"

Mars pointed her fingers at the oncoming attack and in a second a ball of fire left her fingers. Mars' attack sped at the youma's attack and in the blink of an eye; the two attacks collided loudly with each other, halfway between the two senshi and the youma. "I guess you guys aren't the talkative types."

"We have no reason to answer you." One of the youma said, Mars recognized him being the one to attack a few seconds ago.

"Surround them!" Another youma yelled as Mars had her attention on the bluish colored youma.

As soon as the orders left the youma's mouth, the other four ran to different positions and formed a circle around the two senshi. Mars and Moon stood back to back and observed the youma around them. Both girls watched as each of the youma seemed to be readying an attack.

"Do you have any ideas?" Mars asked Moon quietly.

Sailor Moon smiled momentarily, "One." She said and took a hold of Mars' hand, "Close your eyes." She instructed and with her other hand she took hold of her tiara.

"Moon Twilight Flash!"

In seconds the entire area was covered in a bright white light. Moon held Mars' hand tighter and suddenly pulled her as she ran away from their current position. After a couple seconds they stopped and Mars looked over to her girlfriend, with her eyes still closed and said, "Cool, let's try to take out at least one of them before they recover their senses."

"Who should we attack?" Moon asked.

"Let me see…" Mars said and focused on trying to read youma's aura. 'There has to be one that's weaker, even if it's only slightly…' She thought to herself. After a few moments she focused in on one of the creatures, she point at him, "That's the one."

Moon looked at the youma being pointed at and nodded, "All right."

"Don't hold back. We need to even these numbers a little." Mars whispered and quickly prepared her flaming bow in her hands. Sailor Moon summoned her kaleidoscope to her hand and readied her attack as well. "Okay…one…two…three."

"Mars Flame Sniper!"  
"Moon Gorgeous Meditation!"

The two attacks combined as the sailed toward the unsuspecting youma. It only took seconds for the attack to reach to youma and obliterate him almost immediately. At the same time, the light that covered the area began to dissipate. With their wits about them again, the youma looked around for the two senshi.

Mars looked as well to see their combined attack destroyed that youma without a problem. She looked over the shoulder to her girlfriend, "This might be easier than I thought…"

"Mars watch out!" Moon shouted.

Mars turned around and quickly put up her arms defensively in front of herself. She was surprised to feel a strong wind blow past her, yet not feel any attack. She lowered her arms and saw the back of someone in a dark blue senshi fuku.

"You owe me one for that, Mars." Uranus said and rested her talisman on her shoulder. A dark liquid was dripping off the blade she held. After a couple seconds, she turned around and faced Mars.

The senshi of fire smiled, "Thanks."

"It looks like we arrived just in time." Neptune said calmly as she stepped up next to Sailor Moon.

"Thank you for coming so quickly." The Moon Princess said and looked at the girl now standing beside her.

"There's still three more left and now there's four of us…" Mars started to say, when she was cut off.

"Make that five of us." A new voice said from behind the quartet of senshi.

Moon turned around and greeted the new arrival, "Venus!"

The senshi of love smiled walked up beside Neptune. "So those are the youma." She said and focused on the three creatures a short distance from them.

Mars nodded her head slightly, "Yeah, let's take these jerks out!"

"Hey, you weren't going to wait for us?" Asked another new arrival.

Mars smiled and took a quick glance at the brunette and blue haired girl who just arrived, "The more the merrier, Jupiter." She looked forward again and noticed the three youma becoming impatient, "It looks like these guys are itching to get going again."

"So, how are we going to do this? Split up into groups?" Venus asked.

"I want the one in the middle." Mars stated calmly.

"Then Rei and I will fight him. We haven't seen any of the other one's abilities; expect the one in the middle. Does your computer give you any information, Mercury?" Sailor Moon asked and looked to the blue haired girl in their group.

After a couple seconds Mercury shook her head, "Not really, it seems to read all three of them as being very strong, but that's it."

"Michiru and I can take the one on the left. I don't like the way he's been looking at me." Uranus said and glared back at the youma.

"I guess that leaves the one on the right to us." Venus said and looked at Jupiter and Mercury.

"Alright let's do this then…" Mars said and charged at the youma at the center of the group, followed closely by Sailor Moon. In moments, the other senshi ran at the youma that were determined to be their opponents.

* * *

Saturn stopped abruptly. Chibi-Usa was so focused as she ran that she barely had enough time to stop. She almost collided with the dark haired girl, but stopped herself just in time.

"This is no good. I'm not getting there fast enough." The young senshi muttered quietly. Keeping her pace slow enough for the future princess to keep up with was severely hampering her ability to reach Usagi and Rei in a quick fashion. 'I need to quicken my pace, but I can't if Chibi-Usa is to keep up with me as well.' She thought about it for a second, before coming up with only one solution. She turned around and looked at her companion.

"I need to go faster." Saturn stated simply.

As soon as Chibi-Usa heard those words she was about to offer up an argument about why she shouldn't send her back. Before she could say anything she was caught off guard by the request from the senshi before her.

Saturn turned her eyes to the ground as she spoke, "W-Would it be alright if I carry you?" She looked at the other girl for her approval. She immediately noticed the surprised look on the other girl's face, so she quickly explained her reasoning. "I need to speed up, but I can't do that and expect you to keep up with me. I could take you back to the jinja, but that would be counter productive and I already told you I'd take you so…"

"It's alright…you can carry me. This is the fast way you can get to my parents with me, right?" The pink haired girl asked. After a second, Saturn nodded in response. "Then let's do it."

Saturn nodded once more and stepped closer to the other girl before crouching down in front of her. In one swift movement she picked the future princess up effortlessly and held her firmly against herself 'bridal style'.

Chibi-Usa could feel her cheeks warm at the way she was being held. She was also surprised how strong, yet gentle the other girl was. She wasn't much taller than herself and while she didn't look that muscular, she clearly was stronger than she looked. She felt surprisingly comfortable in Saturn arms. She didn't know what to make of that, so she simply chalked it up how protectively the other girl held her.

"Ready?" Saturn asked and looked the girl in her arms. Despite the low light as dusk was settling in, she could clearly see the light pink that adorned her cheeks had become clear shade of red. She didn't give a verbal confirmation, but shook her head affirmatively. "I'm going to go full speed, so prepare yourself…" Saturn cautioned and upon receiving another nod from the girl in her arms, she announced her intention of to begin her full sprint. "Off we go." Saturn kicked off the ground and in a moment they were zooming past everything around them. Cars seemed to be standing still as they didn't even come close to matching the Sailor Senshi's speed.

At first the movement was jarring to Chibi-Usa's senses. She couldn't remember ever moving this fast in her life. She'd been carried by her mother before in her transformed stated, but she was never running a full speed. It was a rush but also a little frightening. She unconsciously felt herself grab Saturn's arm tightly.

"I'm not going to let you go."

The pink haired girl took a deep breath when she heard the other girl's reassuring words. As she released her long breath she felt more at ease. She closed her eyes and relaxed into the Senshi of death and rebirth.

* * *

Both Uranus and Neptune stopped short of reaching their target and held their hands above their heads.

"World Shaking!"  
"Deep Submerge!"

They watched as their attacks both flew toward the youma, but still he didn't make much of an effort to move. Just before he was hit he raised his hand up. Instead of destroying him, the attacks just disappeared. He had his hands closed and looked a little strained for a minute, before a smile crossed his lips. He opened his hands and in that instant, two blast of energy left his hands, one yellow and one blue. The two senshi quickly split up and leapt away from the oncoming attack.

"That felt like our attacks." Neptune said as she looked over to her lover.

Uranus nodded, "I felt that too." She said and paused for a moment, "Let's do this another way then. If he's going to return our attacks, we'll just need to beat him into submission." Neptune nodded in return and the two senshi again charged the youma with the intention of fighting him in hand to hand combat.

* * *

Moon and Mars stopped in front of their opponent. Mars looked at her girlfriend for a second, "Don't forget to beware of his hands."

The Moon Princess nodded at the warning. "So what's our plan?"

"I'm going to distract him from the front, while you get behind him and attack him from there." Mars explained.

Sailor Moon looked at the raven haired girl hesitantly, clearly not entirely liking the 'plan'. "That would mean you'd draw all of his attention."

Mars smiled and took the other girl's hand in her own, "Don't worry, I've fought tougher guys than him. This'll be cinch." The raven haired girl assured her girlfriend. She squeezed her hand gently before releasing it and charging the youma.

The blond haired senshi shook her head slightly as she ran to flank the youma, 'I don't doubt your confidence…' she thought to herself as she watched Mars out of the corner of her eye as she continue to head to a position behind the youma. She just landed a clean blow to the side of the creature's head, sending him staggering a little. She tried to kick him in the chest, but the youma blocked her attack with his arm. Moon came to a stop and grabbed a hold of her tiara. She saw the youma rear back his fist, it was then she took the golden object off her head.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

Moon called out her attack and threw the glowing disk like a frisbee. The disk flew true to her aim and sliced across the back of the youma. The injury was by no means a mortal blow, but it certainly appeared to be painful, as the youma quickly dropped to his knees and grabbed his back.

The youma looked over his shoulder to the senshi responsible for the wound on his back, "Why you little…"

"Keep your eyes on me." Mars said and quickly pointed her fingers at the youma's face.

"Fire Soul!"

The ball of fire left her fingertips in seconds and struck the creature in the face before he could even offer up a defense. Mars jumped back a little to avoid any friendly fire from her own attack. She could feel Moon step up next to her, "Is he finished?"

"I doubt it…" Mars began saying when she saw a ball of red energy sailing toward them. She put up her hand to fire her own attack to counter the other, when someone yelled something behind her.

"Silence Wall!"

The two senshi looked behind them to see, the youngest senshi holding her glaive above her head, creating a dome of black energy. The youma in front of them looked confused by the barrier stopping his attack. He lowered his hand and kicked the barrier, but that didn't accomplish anything as he felt his foot being pushed back.

"Saturn, I thought you were going to stay at the shrine." Mars asked.

"I thought I might be needed here." Saturn said quietly.

"That didn't come out how I wanted it to…" The senshi of fire said and sighed.

Moon stepped up to her girlfriend and put her hand on her shoulder, "I think Rei was trying to say that she's glad you're here, but what about Chibi-Usa."

"Well, she's…"

"That barrier is annoying…" The youma said and crouched down.

Mars' eyes widened, she'd seen that stance before. "Lower your shield! I won't let this bastard have his way again."

Saturn lowered her Silence Glaive and lowered the barrier around them at the same time. The senshi of death and rebirth watched Mars charge the youma, with Moon following closely. 'It doesn't appear they need my help.' She thought and looked at the other fights going on. After a moment, she ran over to join her foster parents in their fight.

* * *

Atop one of the taller buildings lining the street above the battle stood a tall figure, whose appearance was that of a very shady individual. The figure was hidden almost completely beneath a cloak, though his face wasn't covered. He leaned over the edge of the building and focused his attention on the newest arrival.

"I don't believe I'm familiar with that one." He remarked to himself quietly.

He'd done surveillance of palace from time to time and had seen all present except for the girl that just showed up. He doubted it before, but was now sure after watching them since the fight began, the blond with pig tails who Mars referred to as Sailor Moon, was indeed Queen Serenity. This perplexed him, but that accounted for everyone expect for the brat's guardians, but he didn't expect to see them. He stared intently at the dark haired girl, but shook his head a short time latter. "I'll have to ask Heliodor about her…"

* * *

"Let's see what this thing can take…" Venus said and pointed two fingers at him.

"Crescent Beam!"

He didn't make any attempt to dodge and the three senshi didn't know if that meant he was crazy or he was planning something. They got their answer within a couple seconds as he held up his hand, his palm wide open, and took the concentrated energy beam in his hand. However, something strange happened then, because instead of the attack burning a hole through his hand, the beam changed direction and harmlessly struck the ground to his right.

"Mercury, what the heck was that?" The blond haired warrior asked her friend over her shoulder.

The blue haired genius quickly began typing on her computer, "I don't know….it appears that he emitted some kind of repulsive energy from his hand."

"How about this then?" Jupiter asked and ran up to the youma and threw a right hook at his face. He ducked the attempted strike, but Jupiter followed her first attack with a quick open palm uppercut to the monster chin. He wasn't able to dodge this blow and took it full force. He staggered back and nearly lost his balance until he grabbed the senshi's arm in front of him. As soon as he regained his stability, he pulled the brunette's arm and brought her closer, before quickly clothes-lining her to the ground.

"Jupiter!" Mercury yelled and ran over to aid her girlfriend.

"Shabon Spray!"

A cold mist surrounded the youma, as well as left him in near zero visibility. Both Venus and Mercury to this opening to help Jupiter to safety, they ran over and grabbed the senshi of nature. They helped her get a short distance away before Jupiter spoke.

The brunette, "I'm fine." She said and wiped her mouth with her hand, she looked her glove for moment and saw a streak of on the normally white glove, "He's not too shabby at close combat either…"

"There's no way he can repel all three of our attacks at once. He only has two hands." Venus stated and looked at her friends, who nodded in agreement.

"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"  
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"  
"Mercury Aqua Mirage!"

The three attacks sailed at the creature, each on target. As expected, the youma held out his hands and was able to direct both Venus' and Mercury's attack away from himself, but was struck by Jupiter's attack. The electrified leafs pierced him in several areas, though nowhere looked to be fatal. He remained standing initially, but soon he dropped to a knee. Mercury's attack was directed a short distance away, though out of harms way. Venus' attack however, sailed into a nearby building, hitting it near the roof line. Several pieces of brick and concrete fell from the building as Venus' attack struck it. As the bricks made their way the ground a scream could be heard near the building, followed by a pink haired girl jumping away from the debris, on to the street. She got everyone's attention as soon as she stood up and revealed who she was.

"Chibi-Usa!" Saturn yelled as she saw the girl barely escape the dangerous rain of rocks. She tried to move to the girl, but youma that she and her fellow outer soldiers were fighting held out his arm stopping her. "Get out of my way!" She yelled and spun her Silence Glaive in her hand for a second before slashing at the youma's arm. He quickly with drew his arm before it could be sliced off, but he didn't come away unscathed. While he didn't lose his arm, he did receive a vicious cut to his bicep which seemed to render that arm useless anyway.

"What are you…?" Moon started to ask, but before she finished her question, the youma she and Mars were fighting suddenly disappeared. Both girls looked around to see where he went. In what seemed like just a few seconds, the youma appeared near Chibi-Usa. The future princess stared wide-eyed at the youma looming over her. The bulky creature grabbed her arm before she had a chance to run.

He bent down and whispered, "I think I recognize you…"

Chibi-Usa's eyes widened and she tried to free her arm, "Let me go!"

"Get away from her!" Sailor Moon yelled at youma, drawing the attention of the other senshi. Mars ran at the youma, but she was far from the closest senshi to Chibi-Usa at the moment.

Saturn saw the youma grab the Chibi-Usa and glared at the creature. Without a moment's hesitation, she ran to the girl's defense, leaving Uranus and Neptune. She could see out of corner of her eye that Mars was on her way too, but she was closer and she'd be damned if she let anything happen to her after she was the one that brought her to this battle despite her misgivings. She charged ahead harder and in moments she reached them. She jumped into the air and held her Silence Glaive above her head, having every intention of slicing off the youma arm.

The youma heard movement to his left and one of warriors coming at him with their weapon. He quickly let go of the pink haired girl's arm before his arm could be severed. "Get out of my way, girl!"

Saturn pulled her glaive out of the ground and stood protectively in of the future princess. Even with her standing there, she could see the youma extending its hand toward the pink haired girl again. She held her weapon defensively in front of herself, blocking the youma's hand with the pole of her Silence Glaive. "Who do you think you're going after?" Saturn yelled and held the pole more firmly as she felt the creature trying to push her back.

Mars' eyes widened at the position the youma had the younger senshi in without her even knowing it, "Saturn, watch out for his…!" Before Mars could finish her warning, her fears were realized.

Everyone looked on horror as the youma's fingers suddenly extended and pierced the young senshi in the chest.

"Saturn!" The group of senshi yelled together.

Mars quickly manifested her flaming bow in her hands and let loose her strongest attack…

"Mars Flame Sniper!"

As soon as Mars called out her attack another was called out moments later…

"Space Sword Blaster!"

Mars' attack tore threw the youma's hand that were still imbedded in Saturn's, separating her from the creature. While Uranus attack shredded what was left of the youma's arm. The youma fell to the ground holding what was left of its arm. The tall blond haired senshi looked back at Neptune and saw her holding her talisman and the youma they had been battling, fall to the ground. "Sailor Moon, finish off this creep!" Uranus called.

Moon stepped even with Mars and nodded before summoning her kaleidoscope to her hand again. She thrust the object forward, toward the youma, and called out her attack.

"Moon Gorgeous Meditation!"

Moon's attacked left her kaleidoscope and hit the youma almost instantly. Seconds after taking her strongest attack, the youma was reduced to nothing more than dust.

* * *

"Damn it, we can't be stuck fighting this guy while there's real trouble over there…" Venus said and held her hand above her head.

"Venus Wink Chain Sword!"

Venus gripped the blade's handle tightly and sped at the youma they were engaged with. Youma smiled at her as she charged and she could hear Jupiter and Mercury questioning her actions, but she knew what she was doing. "I know you can deflect energy attacks, but you won't be able to deflect this!" She said and raised her sword above her head.

"Foolish girl, just try it!" The youma said proudly and held his hand above his head, readying to block her attack.

Venus continued to charge with her sword above her head. When she was just a little more than an arm's length away, she quickly changed the position of her sword and in the same motion slashed the blade across the youma's exposed midsection. He immediately hunched over and held his stomach, trying to steam the blood flow.

"Jupiter! Mercury! Finish this thing off!"

Both girls looked a little surprised at first, but quickly came to their senses and called out their attacks.

"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"  
"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"

The two attacks struck the youma simultaneously. Without being able to use his hands to deflect their attacks, they consumed him, leaving nothing but dust behind.

* * *

"H-Hotaru…?" Chibi-Usa asked the other girl's name cautiously.

Saturn dropped to her knees and dropped her Silence Glaive on the ground. She hunched forward and braced herself with her left arm. She attempted to reach up to remove the monster's hand with her free hand, but felt a tingling sensation in her arm. She stared at her limb and almost laughed at her misfortunes, "Poison…in its fingers…" She grimaced as she forced her arm to reach up. She shut her eyes and grabbed what was left of the youma's hand before quickly removing it and tossing it to the side. As soon as she threw the hand away she slumped forward towards the ground.

Chibi-Usa ran up behind the dark haired and grabbed her, preventing her from hitting the ground. As soon as her hands touched Saturn's chest, she felt a slick and warm liquid. She pulled one of her hand away, but continued to support her with the other. She looked at her free hand and gasped horror…blood. She quickly laid the girl on her back and looked around from help, "Mama, where are you?" She looked back at new friend and saw she was no longer transformed and was now breathing heavily. It was moments later when she found them to be surrounded by all the senshi.

Chibi-Usa could see Mercury furiously typing on her computer, "She said there was poison in the youma's hand before she…"

After a few seconds Mercury spoke, confirming what was just said, "She's right. There's a very potent poison attacking her body right now."

"Heal her Mama! You have to heal her!" Chibi-Usa called over her shoulder to Sailor Moon.

Moon looked surprised by the younger girl's request. She'd never healed anyone before, but what choice did she have? Saturn was always the one to heal everyone's injuries, but now she was in need of healing. Moon nodded, "I'll try, but I don't really know what to do." She admitted.

"The Ginzuishou." Chibi-Usa said quickly drawing everyone's attention. "I don't really know how…I've seen you do it once…but I know you can do it!"

'The Ginzuishou…' Moon thought and placed her left hand over her compact. She tried to hold it firmly, but her hand still shook against her will. She paused for a moment when she felt a hand covering her free one. She looked to her left and saw Mars smiling back at her.

"You can do this." Mars told her confidently and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Remember, I told you your mother did something similar for me before."

Moon smiled back, until she heard Hotaru moan. She took a deep breath and opened the compact on her chest, undoing her transformation. 'Please Ginzuishou give me a little help here…' She said in her mind to the crystal. The crystal shone bright after her silent request and she held her hands over her injured friend. She stayed like that for a short time, before the light faded and Usagi dropped her arms tiredly. Mars, who remained next to her the entire time, put her arm around her girlfriend's shoulders and supported her.

"You did good." Mars whispered and smiled at her love. No sooner had the words left her mouth then signs of life returned to Hotaru.

_Cough_ _Cough_

"Hotaru!" Chibi-Usa called to the young teen.

She coughed a couple more times, before slowly opening her eyes. Hotaru slowly reached up and touched her chest carefully. As soon as she touched herself, she could tell that she'd somehow been healed. Her wounds were closed, though she still felt like hell.

"We should take her to a hospital to make sure…" Michiru began to say but was interrupted by a hand on her arm.

"It's alright…I'm fine. I can heal myself…" Hotaru said quietly as she tried to sit up, but felt a hand gently, but firmly holding her down.

"Don't move yet." Haruka said quietly.

Ami closed her mini computer and looked at the injured girl, "While I don't doubt you can probably heal yourself, I think it'd be a better idea to relax and not stress your body further." She said seriously.

"Yeah, Usagi wore herself out just healing you this far." Makoto said and gestured over to the blonde leaning heavily on Rei.

Hotaru's eyes focused on Usagi, "Usagi-san…did…"

The Moon Princess smiled warmly as she met the younger girl's eyes, "I'm glad…I was able to…help you, Hotaru-chan."

Rei tightened her hold on her girlfriend slightly before saying, "You gave all of us quite a scary."

The avatar of Saturn closed eyes for a second, "I'm sorry."

"I think we're all just relieved that you're okay." Minako said, speaking for the group.

"Is Chibi-Usa…?" Hotaru asked softly.

"I'm fine." The pink haired girl said to her left quietly. Hotaru looked over to the other girl and inspected her for herself before nodding ever so slightly. Chibi-Usa lowered her head, "Thank you for saving me." She whispered to the other girl.

"Let's get you looked at by a doctor." Haruka said and quickly crouched down and lifted up the smaller girl easily. Everyone began to follow after the tall blond as soon as she started walking away from the scene.

"Minatoku Hospital isn't very far and my mother's on working tonight, so we should be able to get in fast." Ami said, pointing the direction of the hospital.

Rei was about to pick up Usagi, when she shook her head, "I should be okay to walk. I don't want them to think they have two patients to attend to."

Rei nodded and looked to her left to see Chibi-Usa, still sitting on the ground, "We'll get left behind if we don't get a move on." The raven haired priestess sighed when the only reply she got was a slow nod of her head. "It's not your fault." Those words made the other girl look at her, "I know that sounds hollow, but it's true. I would have done the same thing. As would Usagi." Rei laughed a little as she said, "I think it's hardwired into our brains to protect those we care about, even if that means we end up hurt in the process."

"If could transform…"

"There's no good that will come of thinking of what-ifs. Believe me." Usagi said and looked down for moment before adding, "I know from experience how you are feeling right now, but Rei is right. What happened to Hotaru isn't your fault."

"But if I didn't insist on coming here…"

Usagi cut off her daughter before she could finish, "If you weren't here, Hotaru could have been hurt protecting me or Rei or Haruka or Michiru or anyone else here. What you should focus on is because you _were_ here; you told me how to help her. If you wouldn't have been here something far worse could have happened." Usagi stood up with the help of Rei and walked over to pink haired 'teen' and offered her hand, "Come on, I'm sure Hotaru is wondering why you aren't with everyone else and I'm sure she wouldn't want you blaming yourself."

Chibi-Usa smiled a little and took her mother's hand. Once she was standing all three girls began to slowly catch up the rest of their group.

End Ch. 5

* * *

Well, that's it for this chapter. There wasn't a great deal of story progression, but that is usually the case in chapters with fighting. I didn't write anywhere near as much fighting as I originally intended. When I reread everything, the fights did seemed a bit weird because of that, I think. I didn't want to drag the fights on, but I don't know. If anyone has any comment with regard to this, I'd really like to hear other people's thoughts. Did the fights seem too rushed? Should I have added more detail? _Sigh_ This is how they'll be for now at least, that much I do know.

As usually leave a review if you have the time and something to say or ask, I'll do my best to reply to them as soon as I can. So until chapter six : )


	6. Calculating Threat

Chapter 6 – Calculating Threat

* * *

Heliodor sat on a small wooden bench and watched the opening to his tent closely with his hand on his chin. He'd gone over different scenarios in his head about what may be transpiring, 'What strength did they possess at that time?' he thought to himself. He couldn't imagine they were stronger than they currently are, but if they proved to be just as strong, that would be problematic as well. After a few more seconds of sitting alone with his thoughts, he saw out of the corner of his eye that someone had entered his tent. Heliodor looked up, causing the intruder to speak.

"Excuse my intrusion, but I've returned and I believe you'd like that know what occurred in the battle." Nabesite said cautiously, with a bowed head.

Heliodor stood and walked toward the tent's entrance, "And you'd be right. What did you see? What can I expect from them?"

He nodded, "I recognized all the royal guard, plus four other warriors. Of the three other warriors, I could identify two of them as being from the outer guard. There is however one I've never seen…but she seemed overly protective of the Princess, she took a blow for the Princess."

Heliodor paced the ground in his tent. 'This might be a harder task than I originally thought…' One of his hands went up to his chin, he tapped it thoughtfully. He stopped and looked at his companion strangely, "You said there were four other warriors…who was the fourth?"

"That's another thing that was strange…" The creature in front of him said, drawing his attention.

He stopped pacing, "Continue." Heliodor said and waited to hear what else his scout saw.

"Queen Serenity was among those fighting and as far as I'm aware she has never fought or transformed into a warrior. Assuming she lost that ability at some point for some reason, that still leaves that unknown girl. I did hear her being referred to as Saturn by them though."

"…Saturn?" Heliodor said aloud and strained his memory for knowledge of a warrior called that, however he came up blank. 'She is named after one of the planets, same as the others…' He thought to himself, though he was unfamiliar with any warrior calling themselves Saturn. While he didn't know anything about her abilities, having another enemy only made things more difficult. He shut his eyes for a moment before asking the question that had been on his mind before Nabesite had returned, "How did they fair against the shades I sent?"

"They dispatched them with relative ease. Once they determined what their abilities were, they didn't have much trouble. From everything I observed, I can say with certainty that we face a significant force defending the Princess. I'm afraid to say that unless we find a way to lure her away from them, it'll be nearly impossible to acquire the Princess with that level of attack."

"That is troublesome…" Heliodor thought aloud and paced over to the opposite side of his tent. He sat down and looked at Nabesite, who was still standing where Heliodor left him, awaiting instructions. "You may leave, Nabesite. I have to think about a couple things." The handsome looking young man told his companion, who quickly turned on his heel and left.

Heliodor leaned back and ran his hand threw his long hair, 'What he says is true, it'll be impossible to fight the royal guard plus the outer guard plus a transformed Queen Serenity plus an unknown warrior. I don't want to ask for any of _their_ help, but I may not have a choice…'

* * *

The closely knit group of girls sat in the waiting area of the emergency room at Minatoku Hospital. When they arrived with Hotaru, they had explained that she suffered from a fainting episode, as she had a history of. So now every simply waited to hear how the younger girl was doing. Michiru and Haruka sat next to each, beside them sat Rei, Usagi, and Chibi-Usa. The five girls filled up one section of chairs, so the remainder of their group, Ami, Makoto, and Minako, sat in the next section of chairs that was positioned 90 degrees in relation to where the other girls sat.

There was little said among the girls since they arrived when Minako voiced her thoughts, "I don't like that it was a group."

Everyone turned their attention to the leader of Princess' bodyguard, each knowing what Minako's statement suggested. None of the other girls immediately said anything, not because they didn't agree, but saying it out loud would be really confirming it.

"Neither do I." Rei agreed after a few seconds. "They don't normally act in groups unless someone is pulling their strings."

Chibi-Usa shifted slightly in her seat beside Usagi. The monster that hurt Hotaru recognized her, she was sure of that and that worried her. If he recognized her that meant he was from her time and if that was case, that could only mean that she'd brought _them_ after her parents in this time. Unless they were after the girl that was pretending to be her… The pink haired girl bit her lower lip, 'I can't believe _they_ could have tracked me to the past. If _they_ could have done that, why wouldn't _they_ have attacked them in past already? They aren't protected with the same kind of security in this time.' She questioned herself, though she couldn't come up with a reason that made any sense, except that these monsters had something to do with the girl pretending to be her.

"You don't think we already have another enemy on our hands do, you?" Usagi asked as she turned her head to look at her girlfriend.

Rei met her girlfriend's gaze as she said, "I hope it isn't, but…" The raven haired girl trailed off, but smiled slightly when she felt Usagi's hand cover her own.

"I really hope we're all just being overly cautious." Ami said quietly.

"So do I babe." Makoto whispered to her girlfriend.

"_If_ there is someone behind this group, _if_ someone plotting something, there's one thing I know…" Haruka said and paused for a moment before adding, "We'll find out soon…"

"Tenoh-san? And Kaioh-san?"

The two outer soldiers immediately stood and walked over Mizuno-san together. They stood off from the other girls in their group as they spoke to the doctor. The group was silent the entire duration of the conversation.

"So, how is she doing?" Michiru asked as soon as the reached the older woman.

Ami's mother smiled as she said, "She's doing just fine. I would like to run a few more test though and have her stay over night for observation."

Haruka nodded, "Thank you for looking at her."

"I actually wasn't the doctor assigned to her, but when I saw Hotaru-chan's name in our computer as a newly emitted patient, I recognized her name as being a friend of Ami's. So, I decided to take a look at her charts and make sure there was nothing serious going on." Miss Mizuno explained.

Michiru smiled warmly as she said, "Well, we appreciate it. And if she's going to be staying the night, do you think it would be alright if we did as well?"

"I don't see that being a problem, I'll just call up to the room she's in." Doctor Mizuno said and walked over to a nearby phone.

Haruka walked back to the group, while Michiru stayed and waited for Miss Mizuno to finish the call. As soon as she reached the group, Haruka was met by six questioning pairs of eyes. "She fine as far as they can tell, but they want her to stay over night for observation, but she should be fully healed by then or at least close I would imagine."

"That's good to hear." Usagi said, voicing the group's collective opinion.

"I'm glad." Chibi-Usa whispered, prompting Usagi to hold her future daughter's hand.

Ami saw Michiru making her over, "I'll be back in a few minutes. I want to talk to my mother about something." The blue haired girl said and stood up before hurrying over to her mother before she could leave. "Mom, can I talk to you for a moment?" Ami asked, slightly nervous to her mother's surprise.

"Sure." Miss Mizuno said and led her daughter a short ways down the hall. Once they reached a quiet spot, the elder Mizuno turned to the blue haired teen, "What is it, Ami?"

"I just wanted to make sure you're still off tomorrow night, right?" Ami asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Miss Mizuno asked in return.

The blue haired genius looked down as she said, "I-I was wondering if we could make dinner and eat together…and if it would be okay if I brought someone over…"

The older woman tried to hide her surprise, but did so poorly, "W-Well that would be just fine. Do I know this someone already?"

Ami nodded her head slightly, though kept her line of sight downward as she said, "Y-Yes."

Miss Mizuno looked at her daughter curiously, "Alright, I'll do my best to be home then. I am chief of staff, so if an emergency comes up will still have to go in to work, but I'll make every effort to be home tomorrow."

Ami finally looked up and smiled, "I understand mom, thank you." The blue haired girl said happily before hurrying back to her friends.

Miss Mizuno shrugged her shoulders at her daughter's unusually behavior, but she couldn't help but allow her curiosity get the better of her as she thought about who her daughter would be bringing over and why she was so nervous about it….

* * *

The group waited patiently for Ami to rejoin them. After a few minutes, a yawn escaped Minako's lips, causing her to mutter a quick apology, "Sorry. It's getting kinda late. I should probably be heading home." She said and stood up as Ami returned.

"Sorry about that guys, I just needed to ask my mother something." The avatar of Mercury said and moved to sit down next to Makoto again. Makoto had her hand on the chair's armrest and Ami instinctively took it in her own hand once she was seated. She noticed her blonde friend to her left was standing, "Are you leaving Minako?"

"Yeah, my bed is calling my name." Minako said and stretched, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Everyone said their goodbyes and watched the blonde leave. No more than ten minutes later, Makoto drew the group's attention, after whispering something in Ami's ear, "We should leave to." Ami nodded her head in agreement. "We'll see you tomorrow." Makoto said for both of the girls. Once more they receives farewells from the remainder of the group before leaving as well.

The group having been reduce nearly in half had grown quiet once more, until the future Princess spoke. Chibi-Usa lifted her head, "I-Is it okay if I stay here?" She asked as she looked to her left where Rei and Usagi sat together, beside her. The two girls looked at each other to see what each thought of the pink haired girl's suggestion. After their silent exchange Usagi finally spoke, "I don't know if…"

"We could look after her." A voice suggested, causing both Rei and Usagi to look in its direction. "Haruka and I were already planning on spending the night, so she can stay with us." Michiru offered.

The two girls turned to each other once more, Rei shrugged her shoulders, if Haruka and Michiru were staying there would be someone to keep an eye on her. Usagi then shrugged her shoulders as well, "Well, I guess if she isn't going to be by herself, then it's okay."

"Thank you, mama." Chibi-Usa said and got up. The pink haired girl walked to Usagi and hugging her, before stepping over to Rei and hugging her as well as whispering thanks to her.

"We should probably leave too then." Rei said as she looked over to her girlfriend. It took a moment for her to nod in response. Both girls stood up and prepared to leave.

Usagi looked at the two older women, "Message us if Hotaru gets discharged, otherwise we'll be here after school."

"We will." Haruka acknowledged.

Usagi smiled her thanks before focusing on her future daughter, "Be good for Haruka and Michiru-san, Chibi-Usa."

"I will." The pink haired girl promised.

"We'll see you after school tomorrow." Rei said to three girls remaining at the hospital.

"Okay, we will let both of you know if anything changes." Michiru said with a smile.

With that, Usagi and Rei started to make their exit when the blond haired member of the duo paused, causing Rei to do the same. "I still have my backpack at the shrine." Usagi said upon receiving a confused look.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I guess we'll have to stop there first." Rei said and took her girlfriend's hand as they worked out of the hospital.

* * *

"I talked to my mom…" Ami said cautiously.

"I saw, what about?" Makoto asked and looked at her blue haired companion.

"About dinner…I told her to expect a guest Friday." Ami said in a tone Makoto couldn't quite place.

"You're still sure about this, right? About me officially meeting your mother."

"Of course!" Ami said firmly, before adding, "It's just my mother and I haven't really talked much about relationships and I won't just be bringing home my significant other, I'll be bringing home a girl." She paused for a second and took a deep breath. "I mean she's never voiced any dislike for homosexuals, but.."

Makoto sighed and cut off her girlfriend before she could continue that train of thought, "Ames, you know your mother better than I do, but from everything I've seen from her, I don't think she'd reject you if that's what you're thinking."

Ami silently thought about her girlfriend's words. She knew that her fears were probably irrational, but she couldn't stop them from creeping into her thoughts, especially now that she spoke to her mother about having someone over. Her love's words did offer her some comfort though, "Thanks. I know I'm probably overthinking this. I'm just nervous." The blue haired girl admitted.

Makoto put her arm over the shorter girl's shoulder and held her close as they continued to walk, "I understand the nervous part. I want to make a good impression on your mother…" She paused when she received a look from her girlfriend, "I know you say that she'll love me, but I'm still worried that I'll say or do something to embarrass myself."

"You'll be fine. You don't have anything to worry about." Ami assured the other girl.

Makoto smiled and squeezed her girlfriend's shoulder for a moment, "Thanks. I think as long as we are there for each other everything will work out just fine."

Ami gave a quick nod, "Yeah, I think so too."

The two girls continued on in silence for a short while before the taller girl broke in with a question, "What kind of food does your mother like?"

The blue haired genius tapped her fore finger to her chin as she thought, "She enjoys curry with steamed rice."

"Great! I'll make that for dinner then. We can go shopping after school tomorrow to buy the ingredients." Makoto said, already making a mental note of everything she would need to buy.

"Are you sure? You don't have to cook, you'll be my guest."

"Ami, I love cooking, it'll be my way of taking some of the pressure off of you. Besides, I expect you to help too." The tall brunette said with a wide smile before coming to a stop.

Ami stopped and hugged her girlfriend, "You're awesome, you know that?"

Makoto nodded her head, "Yeah, but it's great to hear it from you." She said and leaned down and gave the other girl a quick kiss on her lips. She pulled back slightly and whispered, "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

The avatar of Mercury nodded and took a small step back, "Yeah, see you tomorrow." She then turned around and started to make her way to her apartment complex. Makoto watched her until she reached to door to get inside, once she did, she turned and waved goodbye. The brunette did the same before waiting a few more seconds and continue on to her own apartment.

* * *

"I got an idea!" Usagi exclaimed excitedly and stopped to look over to her girlfriend.

Rei laughed a little before asking, "What's your idea?"

"Why don't I just spend the night over at the jinja? I mean it's already pretty late and we have to go over to there anyway to pick up my stuff, so why walk all the way back here?" Usagi asked, more rhetorically than anything.

"I'd love that, but there's only one problem with that..." Rei trailed off.

Usagi sighed, "It's a school night."

The raven haired girl nodded her head slowly, "Yeah, and you know you'd have to ask your parents' permission. I'm sure Jii-chan wouldn't mind, but your parents might not like the idea. They're probably not ecstatic about you being out as late as you already are."

The blonde lowered her head, "Probably not, but it's worth a shot."

Rei smiled, "You'll just have to call them when we get to the jinja, but let's get going or we'll never get there to call them."

Usagi nodded her head quickly, "You're right, we'll never get there if we just stand here…" She said and pulled the other girl down the sidewalk with her.

Rei smiled even wider as her girlfriend pulled her along enthusiastically. She quick sped up her pace for match Usagi's quick strides, not wanting to fall down from being pulled. Usagi was going on about the prospect of being able to spend the night. Rei, for her part didn't say much aside from the occasional chuckle at her girlfriend's enthusiasm. After a while Usagi slowed down and looked back to at Rei to see why she was being so quiet, "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just happy…" Rei said simply. She was positive she was wearing a stupid grin on her face, but she didn't really care. They were the only people out as far as the eye could see and she felt freer to express herself than she would have otherwise. They still held each other's hand, though Usagi wasn't pulling her anymore. Rei squeezed the other girl's hand slightly before letting it go and draping her arm around the shorter girl's shoulders.

Usagi smiled and wrapped her arm around Rei waist, allowing herself to walk closer to the raven haired girl.

Rei smiled as well and allowed herself to enjoy the feel of the blonde pressed so close to her. They seemed to fit together perfectly, like they were meant to be in each other's arms. The moment was so peaceful, but a nagging thought continued to pester her mind. It was something that she'd been thinking about almost constantly since earlier that morning. She really didn't want to sacrifice the current mood that they'd established, but now that she wasn't distracted by other things like fighting youma or worrying about Hotaru, her mind was free to travel back to where it had been focused on most of the day. There was no sense hiding her thoughts from her girlfriend, so she made the decision to tell the other girl what was on her mind. "Can I talk to you about something, Usa?"

"Sure, what is it?" Usagi asked and looked over to her girlfriend intently.

Rei bit her lower lip nervously, "Chibi-Usa…"

The Moon Princess cocked her head to the side slightly as she asked, "What do you mean? What about her?"

The miko took a deep breath, "There's something she's holding back from us…"

"What makes you say that?"

Rei shifted slightly, so she could look her girlfriend in her eyes, "Last night, or actually this morning, she woke up from a nightmare. She didn't want to say anything and I didn't want to pressure her to say anything, but I was able to gather a little bit of insight because she said a couple things in her sleep." She paused for a moment, "She was worried about someone being hurt and she seemed relieved that I was safe, but quickly she tried to backtrack from what she said when she realized where she was."

Usagi's looked at the girl beside her thoughtfully, "That is strange…it might be best if we ask her what's going on in the future."

Rei nodded her head in agreement, "That's what I was thinking, but I'm not really sure _what_ to ask. I know if Setsuna were here…" The raven haired girl trailed off, not entirely sure how to finish that statement without bringing up memories neither girl wished to relive. "I'm sorry…I just don't know how to go about asking her without asking too much."

The Moon Princess tightened her hold around her girlfriend's waist, "I know. I trust your intuition, so I do think we'll need to sit her down and talk to her about what she is afraid of. I do think we should approach her slowly to make sure she doesn't shut us out."

The young miko nodded her head, "I'm afraid of just that. That's why I didn't want to press the subject earlier."

"I know, but sometimes you need to push a little especially when it's something painful or difficult to talk about." Usagi said knowingly.

Rei once again nodded her head, "Okay. I'm just worried because I don't really know how to act like a parent."

"I barely even know what I'm doing when it comes to Chibi-Usa." The Moon Princess admitted and took a deep breath before adding, "I just do what feels right and I'll always be here to help, we're in this together, remember?"

Rei smiled, "Thanks. I love you, you know that?" She said and turned her head to look at the girl beside her.

"And I love you too." Usagi said gave Rei the brightest smile she could give.

The two girls turned the street corner and as soon as they did, they could see a large torii marking the entrance the jinja. Usagi let go of her girlfriend's waist and likewise Rei removed her arm from the other girl's shoulders. Rei reached for Usagi's hand and took it in her own, interlacing their fingers as she did so. They ascended the steps together and in just a short time they reached the top. They quickly made their way inside the main shrine and looked for Rei's grandfather.

"Jii-chan! Where are you?" Rei called as they reached the kitchen.

"I'm in the garden." A voiced called in the distance.

The two girls then proceeded to rear of the shrine. As soon as they reached the door to the back garden, they saw the door was already open, so they simply stepped through. Sitting on the bench looking at the starry sky, sat an elderly man.

Rei approached him and asked, "Jii-chan is it alright if Usagi spends the night?"

The elderly man looked over to the girl standing beside his granddaughter, "What did your parents say?" He questioned the blond.

"I haven't asked them yet. I wanted to make sure it was fine with you first." Usagi said, already expecting that question.

The older man smiled warmly, "Of course it's fine with me as long as you get the okay from your parents."

Usagi bowed quickly and said, "Thank you Jii-chan. I'll go call them right now."

Rei smiled at her girlfriend and watched her leave to go use the phone. She really hoped her hopes won't be dashed, but the realist in her told her that Usagi's parents weren't likely to be too keen on her idea. Usagi's optimism was rubbing off on her because she could almost believe that she could convince her parents that abruptly staying over at a friend's house on a school night was a good idea.

"It seems she's finally softened you a little." The older man said out of nowhere.

"Wh-What?" The teen stuttered and looked at her grandfather. He wore a kind of half smile half smirk, making her wonder what her expression had looked like a few moments ago to draw his reaction.

"Usagi-san, she's done an amazing job of breaking down those barriers you put up to protect yourself." Grandpa Hino said with a big smile on his face.

"Jii-chan…" Rei muttered exasperatedly.

He simply continued to smile and pointed out, "Well even if you can't see it, which I doubt, I can. She's good for you."

"Jii-chan…please…" She muttered again. Rei could feel her cheeks warm, mostly because she didn't really didn't want to admit how right he was.

The elderly man put his hands up in defeat, "Fine..fine, as long as you admit it to yourself." Just as the words left his mouth the light patter of footsteps could be heard approaching the room.

Usagi returned with her backpack slung over her shoulder and a sad expression on her face. She shook her head no as she approached, "My mom doesn't think it's a good idea with school tomorrow."

Rei smiled sadly, she expected that to be the answer, but she still allowed herself to feel a bit of optimism that her parents would have agreed, "I'm sorry, maybe you can stay over another day."

The blond returned the other girl's smile with a small one of her own, "Yeah, maybe."

The young miko looked over to her grandfather and asked, "Would it be okay if I walked Usagi home, Jii-chan?"

The older man smiled warmly, "Of course. Just try not to be too long, it is getting late."

Rei walked over to the older man and kissed him on his forehead, "I won't be. I promise." She said and made her way over to Usagi and offered her hand to her girlfriend, "Are you ready?"

Usagi nodded slightly, "As ready as I'll ever be." She said and took the other girl's offered hand. She allowed Rei to lead the way to the shrine's exit.

Just before passing the threshold, the raven hair girl looked back and her grandfather and said, "I'll be back soon."

The old man nodded and watched the two teens leave with an amused grin on his face.

* * *

"Can I ask you something, Princess?" Haruka asked as she leaned forward in her seat across from Chibi-Usa. They each had a chair on opposite sides of Hotaru's bed. She'd been sleeping since they made it up to her room. There was an empty chair next to Haruka, because Michiru had left a short time ago to use the restroom.

The pink haired girl looked at the Guardian of Uranus curiously. She hadn't spent nearly as much time with her and Michiru-san as she had with the other senshi, but she knew the sandy haired blond well enough to know she was probably the most serious when it came to senshi business. However, she also knew the other woman was also probably the least serious when it came to topics not relating to senshi business. That made predicting her forthcoming question almost impossible to guess, but there was also no need to delay what ever her question was further. "Of course, Haruka-san."

"I've never told you to just call me Haruka or Haruka-chan at least?"

Chibi-Usa looked at other woman curiously once again, 'That is want she wanted to ask?' After a couple seconds she shook her head no, "No. I don't see you or Michiru-san as often as I do the other Senshi. It would be rude of me to just use your first name, but if you want me to, I will."

Now it was Haruka's turn to look curious, "So why is it that you don't see Michiru and me as much as you do the other girls?"

"Well, you don't live in the palace like the other Senshi do." She explained.

"Why? Where do we live then?" Haruka asked, her curiosity was definitely piqued.

"Mother told me that both of you guard the boarder of our solar system against outsider intruders and because of that you couldn't guard effectively always living in the palace." Chibi-Usa explained further, but paused as she thought about the second part of the question. 'I never really thought about it before…since I know why they don't live at the palace; I could probably make a guess.' The pink haired girl thought to herself. "As for where you live, I'm not sure. I've never asked. I would imagine its one of the outer planets, Pluto perhaps since it's the planet closest the edge of our solar system."

Haruka nodded her head in understanding, "Interesting. Now, I got off track of what I originally wanted to ask…" She started to say, but paused when she heard the room's door open. She looked over to see her girlfriend entering the room.

Michiru approached her chair, she felt as though she had interrupted something because Haruka looked guilty. "You aren't pestering her about things you shouldn't even be asking about are you?" Michiru questioned, but one look at her lover's face told her the answer to her question. She shook her head and looked over to Chibi-Usa, "You don't have to answer any of her questions about the future. She knows better than to ask you anything about it." The avatar of Neptune said, directing the last sentence at her lover as she sat down.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize I shouldn't talk about the future." Chibi-Usa quickly apologized.

"I don't blame you honey…" Michiru said warmly as she smiled at the future Princess, "I blame her." She said and point at her lover.

"Hey, they were all innocent questions." Haruka said, defending herself, though her girlfriend still didn't look entirely convinced. "I promise." The blond said sincerely.

Michiru shook her head and addressed the pink haired girl, "You should try to get some rest, it's rather late and there's no reason for you to stay up all night. Hotaru isn't going anywhere."

The other girl nodded and reclined the chair she was in and made herself more comfortable. She positioned herself on her side so she was looking at the dark haired girl in the hospital bed. "She's going to be fine, right?" Chibi-Usa asked quietly.

"Yeah, she's tougher than she looks. Her senshi healing would have kicked in by now and she'll be close to a hundred percent by the time she wakes up." Haruka said reassuringly.

"I'm glad. I didn't want her get hurt because of me." The pink haired girl said and yawned.

"She'll be happy you stayed with her." Michiru said, bringing a smile to the other girl's face.

* * *

"Why does tomorrow have to be a school day?" Usagi complained for probably at least the dozenth time since they left the shrine.

Rei smiled at her girlfriend as she'd done each previous time, "I wish it wasn't, but there isn't anything that can be done about it. At least tomorrow's Friday, so maybe we can try again." The raven haired girl offered.

"But tonight it would have been guaranteed to just have been us…"

Rei eyed the other girl curiously, "Usagi, we'll have plenty more opportunities. Even if it isn't just the two of us, you know you'll have my fullest attention."

A small smile inched across the blonde's lips, "I know. I was just looking forward to the possibility of staying over at the jinja with you." Usagi said and lowered her head as she finished.

The raven haired girl stopped, causing the other girl to do the same. She released Usagi's hand and put her hand under her girlfriend's chin, urging the other girl to look at her. "Why don't we do something this weekend then? It could be just the two of us, because I'm sure Chibi-Usa wouldn't mind staying with the outers for a day or so." Rei smiled as she watched her Princess' face light up at the suggestion.

"Really? What did you have in mind?"

Reis hugged her shoulders, "I don't know, whatever you feel like. We could go see a movie or just hang out; whatever you want to do is fine with me." A thought occurred to her as she said that, this would be their first official date. 'Maybe it should be something more formal…'

Usagi jumped into her girlfriend, catching her off guard and nearly knocking her to the ground, "Oh, that would be great! I can't wait for this weekend now!"

"I'm glad you're excited." Rei gushed as she smiled from ear to ear, "We're only about a block away from your house now though."

The blonde teen quickly moved forward and captured her girlfriend's lips for quick kiss. Rei blushed at the other girl's sudden action. Usagi pulled back and released Rei from her crushing hug and instead linked her right arm around Rei's left. The two girls then continued down the path to Usagi's house in relative silence until they reached her house.

As soon as Usagi opened the front door the two girls were immediately met Mrs. Tsukino, she must have seen them coming up to the house. The older woman didn't expect to see her daughter's friend with her and she didn't want to say anything that could embarrass her daughter, but… "Usagi, this is far later than the curfew we discussed in the past."

"I'm sorry she's so late, Tsukino-san. It's my fault. I was helping her with her Math homework and we lost track of time. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again." Rei lied with ease.

Usagi's mother looked a little surprised at first, but didn't pay much mind to that as she spoke again, "Thank you for helping Usagi with her school work, Rei." She said to the raven haired girl before pausing and addressing both girls, "However, coming home at half past twelve on as school night without so much as a call to let me know you were running late will not be tolerated in the future. Do we have an understanding?" Ikuko asked and looked at both girls.

"Yes ma'am." Rei replied quietly.

"Yes Oka-san." Usagi replied just as quietly.

"As long as that's clear ladies…" She said and paused receiving a nod from each girl. "Thank you for walking Usagi home, do you want Kenji to give a ride back, so you don't have to walk?"

The dark haired girl shook her head, "No, I'll be fine walking back. Thank you for the offer. I should be on my way though. Good-bye Tsukino-san. I'll see you tomorrow, Usagi." She said as she took a step down from the porch.

"Good night, Rei-san." Tsukino Ikuko replied.

"See you later, Rei-chan!" Usagi exclaimed from beside her mother.

Rei found herself smiling again as she looked at her girlfriend, she waved her and her mother before turning around and starting her trek back to the jinja.

* * *

Hotaru rolled to her left, when her hand hit a metal bar on the side of her bed. She winced and cracked open her eyes. Her vision was a little blurry, so she wiped her eyes with her hand. As soon as her vision was cleared she found herself staring at a sleeping angel. She was surprised to see the other girl in her hospital room. Her face was slightly obscured by her messy pink hair, barely being contained by the buns on top her head. Hotaru smiled briefly as she observed how peaceful the other girl was.

"Chibi-Usa…" The youngest senshi whispered.

"She wanted to make sure you were going to be okay." Haruka said quietly, alerting the other girl of her presence as well.

Hotaru couldn't help but smile even more at her guardian's words as she looked over to the sleeping girl, "That was sweet of her." Hotaru turned her attention to Haruka as she asked, "So when can I be sprung from here?"

"Ami's mother said she wanted to keep you overnight for observation, so you should be released tomorrow morning. How do you feel?" Michiru said, drawing the younger girl's attention.

Hotaru smiled slightly, "Not bad. I'd say I'm pretty close to a hundred percent already. I told you there was no need to come here; I'll be fully healed by morning."

"You can't fault us for wanting to make sure. You're our responsibility." Michiru said protectively.

Hotaru was silent after that for a few moments before eventually saying, "Sorry, I didn't mean that I wasn't thankful. I just…"

Haruka cut off the dark haired girl before she could say anything more, "We know what you meant and its fine. We understand."

The younger girl smiled slightly, "Thanks." She said quietly. After a short time, she laid back on to the hospital bed and looked over to her left again. She watched the other girl sleep for a few minutes before turning back to her guardians, "I don't know what affect Rei and Usagi had on the timeline, but they obviously had a profound effect on Chibi-Usa, she's nothing like how she was before. In the time I've already spent with her, I can see that clearly. I want learn about _who_ she is now and the state of things in the future." She told the two older women and looked at them for their approval.

"What do you mean? What are you hoping to learn?" Michiru asked.

"Everything I've learned from being with her so far tells me that she is a completely different person, different personality, different memories, different everything. I believe if I can learn more, I may learn why she never met me until now. And why she came to the past." Hotaru explained.

"What are you thinking?" Haruka asked as she leaned forward in her seat.

Hotaru took a deep breath, "I think there was something after her, but she's trying to hide that for some reason." She looked over the pink haired girl and added, "I think she's thinking she's protecting us or something."

"Do you think she'll open up to you?" Michiru asked gently.

The youngest senshi looked back to her guardians once more, "I'm not sure, but I'm going to try."

* * *

"Where is everyone else?"

Heliodor stepped forward as he spoke, "No one else is coming. I wanted to ask you specifically for help."

The blue haired woman eyed her companion carefully, "What makes you think I would help you?"

"I know the strength your faction possesses and I based on what I've seen I cannot acquire the Princess without additional help."

His companion was intrigued by this statement and urged him to continue, "Go on."

"I sent four of my shades, each of varying strength, to determine where we stand." Heliodor explained and paused for moment to take a deep breath, "I was disappointed to learn they are significantly stronger than I thought they would be and not only that, their fighting force is larger than I assumed it to be."

"How so?"

"Both Uranus and Neptune fought alongside the Royal Guard, but so did an unknown warrior. On top of that, Serenity even fought." Heliodor explained. "We'll need to formulate a plan, one that will draw the Princess away from her protectors, at least most of them in order to have a shot at acquiring her."

"You were supposed to be the one good a coming up with plans, but now you want _my_ help?"

"Would you swallow your pride for once and work with me, Maxixie?" Heliodor hissed. "I don't have anyone in my faction of shades that can fight with them evenly. I could go, but based on my intel that would likely mean my demise if all of them worked together. That is certainly not the outcome I'm looking for."

Maxixie remained silent for a couple minutes before answering, "What's in it for me if I agree?"

Heliodor stared at the woman, "My appreciation…" He said somewhat sarcastically.

"I'm leaving." Maxixie said abruptly and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Heliodor said quickly. "I was merely joking about that."

"So, what do you have to offer me?" Maxixie stopped and look back. Heliodor smiled and walked up to her. He leaned next to her and whispered something into her ear. As soon the sentence left his mouth her eyes widened. "I don't believe you have the ability to accomplish that…but if you can…"

Heliodor started to walk away, "I'll contact you when my plan is ready to be put into motion." He said and within moments disappeared. Maxixie simply stood rooted in her spot until a new voice spoke…

"Hmm…I never thought you'd swallow your pride ask for help…" A voice said from behind Maxixie.

An irritated expression crossed the blue haired woman's face, "Eavesdropping is unbecoming, Morganite."

"Calm yourself Maxixie. I was merely curious. A meeting that was not requested in the usual way and with only you and Heliodor present…"

"Please just say what you wanted to say so I may leave." Maxixie said, still sounding irritated.

"As I said, I was merely curious, but now that I know what was discussed I do have a question…" Morganite said dragging out his part of the conversation.

Maxixie stared at the other man in annoyance, "So, out with it then."

"Do you actually intend to help him with his plan?"

She took a deep breath, "Most likely." She said simply.

"Interesting…do you mind if I watch?"

"Hmph…I think you'll do whatever you want no matter what I say, so why even bother asking." Maxixie said and glared

"Quiet true…"

"I'm leaving." She said simply before disappearing similar to Heliodor.

"I wonder what Goshenite will think of this turn of events…" Morganite wondered aloud before disappearing himself.

End ch.6

* * *

I'm back! It's been super long since I updated this, far too long. There are reasons of course; first after I finished the last chapter, I had every intention of finishing my only other unfinished story, Live for Today. I updated one chapter but then I lost my focus on that story and came back to this one. Shortly after that, my brother got really sick and ended up in the hospital for two and half months. During that time, I didn't write at all, my heart would not have been in it. He got better, thank God, and shortly after that I started working on this chapter again. Then as luck would have it, I ended up getting sick. I ended up having to have surgery and was laid up for a month. I did write free hand when I could, because I didn't have anything better to do, but what I wrote didn't always pertain to this chapter. I would write whatever came to mind, which was some stuff that had to do with future chapters. So I got better and then had to transfer everything I wrote out by hand on to my computer, but of course my luck didn't end there because just shortly after I transferred everything I wrote, my computer decided to die. I thankfully had everything on an external hdd, but that was just another speed bump for me that I didn't really need.

Okay, now with all that out of the way, I can say things look good now. I have a clean bill of health, I have a new functioning computer, and I've finally been able to really get back into writing again! Hopefully I still have people following this story and to those who are, thank for sticking by me!


	7. Misunderstandings and Confusion

Just a forewarning, this is kind of a talky chapter (though not as long as usual)…

~~~~****~~~~  
Chapter 7 – Misunderstandings and Confusion  
~~~~****~~~~

Chibi-Usa whimpered quietly as she shifted on the less than comfortable hospital recliner. She curled herself up tighter, trying to find a somewhat comfortable position, but wasn't having any luck. A realization hit the 'young' girl; she wasn't likely to get any more restful shut eye in her current situation. 'I may as well get up.' She thought to herself and stretched her arms and legs as best she could. Cracking her eyes open, she found herself facing the window. It was still fairly early because the sun hadn't risen, though it didn't look like it was that far off.

"Good morning."

The pink haired girl turned over and looked at the hospital bed with a smile, "How are you doing?"

"Good. I'm only a little sore, but nothing too bad." Hotaru said and wore a smile of her own.

Chibi-Usa lowered her head somewhat as she said, "I'm glad."

Hotaru frowned as she observed the other girl. "What's wrong?" She asked and paused to wait for a response but when she didn't receive one after a few moments, she spoke up again. "I'm not lying, if you're thinking that. I really am fine, I promise…"

Chibi-Usa sat up quickly and looked at the senshi, "That's not it!" She said interrupting the other girl.

Hotaru blinked several times before staring intently at the girl across from her. As their eyes met the future Princess found herself flustered. Her companion's regalia eyes seemed to look straight into her…they reminded her of her mother's eyes. She didn't know if the other girl had any abilities like her mother, since she never asked, but she did know her eyes staring at her like they were, made her feel exposed. Once again she found her gaze lowered, but for a different reason than before.

The dark haired girl sighed to herself, she didn't know what was wrong, but she knew something was bothering the other girl. 'If she isn't going to say anything…' She thought and threw the blanket off of herself. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, wincing slightly as she accidently pulled on the IV drip. The sharp intake of breath didn't go unnoticed, because it drew Chibi-Usa's attention back to her.

The pink haired girl got up from her recliner and hurriedly stood in front of Hotaru, "What are you doing?"

The youngest senshi looked up, "Well, I was going to get up and make you look at me. Make you talk to me." She said causing the other girl to take a step back. Hotaru watched her carefully; she bit her lower lip slightly and seemed to be debating with herself about what to do. 'She just needs another little push.' Hotaru thought before saying, "Please. I know something is bothering you, so please just talk to me." Hotaru reached out to the other girl before she was out of her reach and grabbed her hand, "Please."

Chibi-Usa looked at her new friend with wide eyes but didn't try to pull away from the dark haired girl's hold. She did find herself lowering her gaze once again though before saying, "I'm sorry for getting you hurt."

Hotaru shook her head, "What are you apologizing for? Getting injuries is par for the course when it comes to being a Sailor Senshi."

The future Princess looked up quickly, "I'm the reason you got hurt though. I insisted on going and you were hurt protecting me."

"Nonsense, I could have been hurt whether I took you or not. Besides, it was still my choice to take you along." Hotaru pointed out.

"I didn't really give you much choice though…"

Hotaru smiled slightly, "That's true, but my previous point still stands and even if you try to discount that somehow, I made a promise to protect you and I take my promises very seriously." She said the last part somewhat jokingly, though they were words she honestly meant.

Chibi-Usa nodded her head, "Ok. I just wanted you to know that I was sorry."

The girl sitting on the hospital bed shook head, "There's nothing you need to apologize for, okay?" She said causing her companion to nod in response. The room grew silent for a time before Hotaru realized she was still holding on to the pink haired girl's hand. She quickly let it go and mumbled an apology. "Sorry…"

Chibi-Usa smiled, "It's fine, I didn't mind." She said and sat down on the hospital bed a short distance away from Hotaru.

Youngest senshi could feel her cheeks warm at the other girl's comment. She turned away from the pink haired girl and looked the saline solution drip into the IV line, hoping to avoid any embarrassment. Thankfully her actions didn't seem to raise suspicion because she wasn't questioned.

"Where are Haruka-san and Michiru-san?"

"Oh, they went to get some coffee, they shouldn't be gone too much longer." Hotaru said and looked back to the other girl, happy for the change of topic.

Chibi-Usa leaned forward and placed her hand over Hotaru's forehead, "Are you running a fever? You look a little flushed."

Hotaru silently cursed her pale skin for betraying her. She took her friend's hand in her own again and brought it away from her face, "Maybe a small one, but it's no problem." She lied without skipping a beat. The future Princess looked like she was going to say something when her attention was drawn to the door. The door slowly opened and in walked Haruka and Michiru. Chibi-Usa slipped off the hospital bed and greeted the two women.

The avatar of Saturn watched the three women, but despite her best efforts she found her eyes drawn to the pink haired girl. She'd resolved to learning about this girl and she had every intention of doing just that. 'If I can get her to open up to me a little bit at a time, maybe eventually she'll trust me enough to tell me everything…'

* * *

Rei sat up and yawned as she stretched her arms above her head. She pulled her covers off and got up from her futon. The raven haired girl padded over to her closet and pulled out her school uniform. She looked over the familiar outfit and sighed, 'I wish I could go to Usagi's school…' she thought and walked over her dresser to grab a set of bra and panties. Once she had the desired garments, she left her room to take a shower. She entered the bathroom and put her clothes aside to get undressed. 'I wonder if I talked to Jii-chan he'd speak with father about transferring for high school…' She shook her head at the thought. 'Like father would give a damn about what I want…'

Rei finished her shower and got dressed before applying her makeup. She headed back to her room and collected her backpack. She made her way to her door again and looked back in her room to make sure she didn't forget anything. After a moment she turned and left her room, making her way over the kitchen to grab a bite to eat before going to school. The young miko entered the kitchen and saw Yuuichirou with his head inside the refrigerator. She placed her backpack down near the table without a sound before heading over to the cabinet near the fridge. As soon as she opened the door and grabbed a bowl, she saw out of the corner of her eye the man in to fridge jump back and close the fridge hastily. The raven haired girl held her bowl as she watched her grandfather's assistant nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Is there something wrong, Yuuichirou?" Rei asked as she continued to stare at him with a confused expression.

He shook his head, "N-Nothing's wrong."

"Okay…so why are you so jumpy then?"

"You just surprised me, that's all." The scruffy looking man said and opened the bottle of water in his hand, taking a healthy gulp afterwards.

Rei still looked at him strangely, but continued what she was doing before their interaction. She opened another cabinet and pulled out a box of cereal. She poured its contents into her bowl and put the box back. She turned to the fridge and noticed Yuuichirou was surprising still there, so against her better judgment she continued their strange conversion, "Umm…well I do this most days I attend school and I usually grab something to eat before going, so it's not that unusual that I'd be in the kitchen right now."

The young man nodded his head slowly, "Yeah, of course."

Rei opened the fridge and poured some milk in to the bowl, "You're sure there's nothing wrong?" She asked and looked back to her companion as she put the milk back and shut the fridge.

He nodded his head, but paused for a second before asking, "Actually, I do have a question. Why did Usagi's cousin stay the night the other day?"

Rei was walking over to another drawer to grab a spoon when Yuuichirou asked his question, causing her to pause for a moment, not entirely expecting _that_ question. She quickly recovered and resumed what she was doing initially, grabbing a spoon as she questioned back, "Why are you asking?"

"I-I just thought it was strange that she didn't stay with U-Usagi." He said, faltering somewhat as he spoke.

Rei took a seat at the table in the room and eyed the man across the room. "I don't know what it really matters, but she came in late and didn't want to impose on Usagi's family on such short notice."

Yuuichirou opened his mouth as though he was going to say something more, but closed it before uttering a word. He simply shook his head and started to walk out of the room. As he reached to the room's exit he paused for a moment, "I hope it was worth it."

Rei stared at the man as though he'd grown two heads, but before she could say anything he was gone. When her brain finally began functioning normally, her mouth finally communicated her thoughts, "_What_?"

* * *

KNOCK KNOCK

A few moments after the polite knocking on the hospital door, Dr. Mizuno stepped into Hotaru's room. The doctor approached Hotaru and smiled, "I see you're awake. How do you feel?"

Haruka and Michiru stepped around to the other side of the bed and motioned for Chibi-Usa to follow, which she did.

Hotaru smiled as she spoke, "I'm doing fine." She eyed the older woman as she stepped up to the bed with a chart in her hands.

Mizuno-san nodded her and glanced at the clipboard she held, "Well your bp and temperature are normal, so I don't see any reason why I shouldn't discharge you."

Hotaru smiled at hearing that news, "Thank you for taking care of me, Mizuno-san."

The doctor shook her head, "It was nothing. Just do me a favor and don't make it habit of coming here."

"I'll do my best."

Ami mother nodded and looked over to Haruka and Michiru, "I'll need someone to sign a few papers to release her."

Michiru stepped forward, "I can do that."

Mizuno-san nodded once more and motioned for the blue haired woman to follow her, "Right this way then please."

The avatar of Neptune followed the doctor as she made her way to the room's exit. Haruka looked at the other two girls, "I'll join Michiru. I'll be back in a few moments." Both girls nodded and in a few moments they were alone again.

Hotaru glanced at the girl in front of her; she looked to be lost in her own thoughts. 'I wish I knew what she was thinking…' she thought to herself. Of course she could always just ask, but she didn't want to be too direct and beside even if she asked her, there was no telling whether or not she would be truthful and she didn't know the girl before her well enough to accurately gauge her sincerity. Then again she had to start somewhere and she knew Haruka's real reason for leaving the two of them alone was to give her more time with Chibi-Usa. 'I really do want to know everything I can about her…for more reasons than I let on to Haruka and Michiru.' She thought when the pink haired girl's voice brought her back to reality.

"I'm sure you're glad that you are being released."

"Oh…I am. I didn't think she'd have any reason to keep me here any longer anyway." Hotaru said, recovering quickly. The other girl smiled when she heard her response. After a few more seconds of silence, she decided to see how the other girl would respond to a question that was one her mind since she arrived. "Can I ask you about something?"

Chibi-Usa nodded and stepped in front the dark haired girl, "Of course you can."

Hotaru took a deep breath, "You said you've never come to past before, right?"

Chibi-Usa stared at the other girl, unsure as to how to respond. 'I already told her that, so why would she bring it up again?'

"I'm sorry; I don't mean to ask you anything that makes you uncomfortable." Hotaru backtracked when she saw her companion's reaction.

She bit her lip softly, "No, it's just…I already told you, do you not believe me?" she asked, sounding a little hurt.

"No, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I do believe you. I just wanted to find out more about _how_ you traveled here." Hotaru said quickly.

"Oh…sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I just…I'm sorry." Chibi-Usa said and quickly lowered her head in embarrassment.

Hotaru reached forward and touched her friend's arm, drawing her attention back to her, "No, it's my fault for starting the way I did." She said and dropped her hand onto her lap. She shook her head slightly before continuing, "I just didn't want to just blurt out the question and have you take it the wrong way, but I guess that didn't really work out how I was hoping either…" The dark haired girl sighed. "I'm sorry if this is something you'd rather not…" Hotaru was surprised to feel a pair of hands covering her own, prompting her to look at her companion with widened eyes.

"I'm sorry. It really is my fault, not yours. Rei-mama has told me for the longest time to not just use my ears when someone is talking, but to also feel their intent. Or rather their aura, it tells you much more than their words do. I'm not as adapt as my mother, but can I feel only your curiosity." Chibi-Usa smiled her reassurance to her new found friend. She didn't think the other girl could read her aura, but if she could, she knew that she'd feel the same thing she could feel from the other girl. She released Hotaru's hands and stepped back until her feet touched the recliner. She sat down and grew more serious as she said, "But as for your question, I don't really understand how I came here. I remember passing through a large set of double doors and the next thing I knew, I was here."

"A large gate…." Hotaru said quietly, causing the future Princess to nod her head. 'She used the same path as Pluto then. Does that mean she's alive in the future? But if she is, why hasn't she returned to us?'

Chibi-Usa watched as the other girl became absorbed in her own thoughts, but that caused her to wonder as well. "Do you know something about time travel?"

This time Hotaru nodded, "Yes. There is a system of gates to the past, the present, and the future. You passed through the gate to the past. My understanding is that each primary gate has a network of gates that link to critical points in that time…"

"Only one gate appeared before me. There were no others." Chibi-Usa said interrupting the other girl.

"Hmm..there's really only one person that would be able to completely explain that, the senshi who governs over time, Sailor Pluto." Hotaru said and paused for a moment before adding, "The only problem is, she lost her life in a battle shortly before you arrived."

"Was her star seed destroyed?" Chibi-Usa asked as soon as the words left her friends mouth.

Hotaru stared at her curiously, "What do you mean?"

"Her star seed…her essence…her soul. Mama said all of us with eternal star seeds cannot die unless our star seed is destroyed. We will always be revived again either through reincarnation or through the Ginzuishou." The pink haired girl explained.

Hotaru nodded, "I see. Then I guess it's only a matter of time before she returns."

Chibi-Usa smiled, happy that she could ease her friend's worries. Their current conversation brought an idea to her mind, "Since I answered your question, I want you to answer one of mine."

The avatar of Saturn looked taken aback by the question, but she did her best to not let it show. "Sure, it's only fair."

She nodded, "The girl you remember, did she act very different than me?"

Again Hotaru found herself taken by surprise. "W-Well I'd hate to say this but I'm at a bit of a disadvantage because I haven't spent nearly as much time with you as I did with her."

Chibi-Usa nodded slowly, "Then if I asked, do I act different than her?"

Hotaru took a deep breath, she didn't want throw a wedge into the friendship they were forming, but it wouldn't be right to not be honest either. After another deep breath she said, "Yes."

She hoped she wouldn't regret continuing this line of questioning, but she couldn't help herself, "How? How do I act differently?"

"You aren't as impulsive, though you do have your impulsive moments, so I guess that may not be true. You're quieter, more introspective than the girl I remember. In many respects you are more mature, at least from what I've seen. Even though you can't transform, you have the ability read other's auras, but I think all of that is really more of Rei's influence showing through than…" Hotaru was stopped short when she heard the door open, followed by her guardians entering with a nurse.

"I'll be removing your IV. Afterwards you can get dressed and you'll be free to go." The young nurse, whose id read 'Kana', said with a smile.

"Thank you. I'm more than ready to leave." Hotaru said and held out her arm that IV drip was connected to.

Idle chatter continued between Hotaru and the nurse as well as her two guardians, but Chibi-Usa remained silent. The pink haired girl was too focused on how Hotaru was going to finish that sentence. She'd have to continue their talk again sometime soon.

* * *

School was the usually tedium at Azabu Jūban Junior High. There was a 'surprise' test in English; though Ami said they were told about it earlier in the week. All Usagi knew was the test was a surprise to her and she was sure she performed horribly on it as well. Usagi smiled when the bell toned to indicate the end to another period, this time however it meant the start of her favorite part of the school day, lunch.

Usagi's ears caught two of her friends discussing a grocery list and her smile widened. 'I guess it's tonight for the formal introductions.' She thought when her thoughts traveled over to her own relationship. While Rei and her hadn't spent much time around her parents since they got together, they had spent a lot around Rei's grandfather. She knew the longer time went on, the harder it would be to keep their feelings from showing through to their loved ones. It was hard enough already to keep herself in check around Rei's grandfather.

She found herself comparing the differences in her feelings for Mamoru and Rei, even though she didn't really intend for that to happen. She loved Mamoru, there was no doubt in her mind about that, but the intensity doesn't compare. There's a '_pull_' that she feels with Rei that she didn't feel with Mamoru, though that seems to make the time they don't spend together more difficult…

"It's a nice day out, let's have lunch outside." Makoto announced over her shoulder to her two blond friends.

"Okay." Usagi replied cheerfully. She turned her gaze to the girl in the desk beside her and frowned. Minako didn't appear to be paying attention; she was off in her own world. Usagi looked forward, "You two go on ahead, we'll catch up with you." She said and flashed Ami and Makoto another smile.

"Alright…we'll see you a few then." Ami said and took her girlfriend's hand and lead her out of the classroom.

Usagi glanced around the room for a moment and upon seeing it was virtually empty she put her hand on Minako's shoulder, causing the other girl to jump slightly. Usagi was a little surprised because she thought her friend could sense her, but she disregarded that for the time being. She was a little concerned when she saw how tired the other girl looked though, "Is something wrong? You look tired Minako."

Minako looked confused for moment before answering, "What? I'm fine."

The Moon Princess sighed at her friend's poor attempt to convince her, "Minako….I know you remember, you are _not_ fine."

Minako lowered her head, "I'm just tired. That's it really."

"If that was all it was, you would have said so initially. So, please just be honest with me. You know you can say anything to me." Usagi said and placed her hand over her friend's that was lying on the desk.

The senshi of love frowned as she continued to look down. Had it been anyone else, expect for maybe Rei, she could have talked her out of her current predicament, but it was Usagi. She shook her head slightly and looked over to girl she charged with protecting, "Okay…" She paused for moment, "I guess I'm just feeling a little left out being surrounded by couples…"

"You could have just told me. I'm sorry we made you feel that way; I'll make sure no one forgets about you Minako when we make plans. You aren't just a soldier, you're a friend." Usagi said sincerely. "Actually, Rei and I are planning on going to a movie tomorrow and you are more than welcome to join us." Usagi offered with one of her trademark smiles.

The avatar of Venus smiled somewhat at the other girl's offer before saying, "That's kind of you, but I wouldn't want to be a third wheel…"

"Minako! You could never be a _third wheel_! Why would you even think that?" Usagi said and stood up abruptly before taking a deep breath and kneeling in front of Minako, "You're my friend and I love you like a sister, so if I ever gave you the impression…"

Minako looked up and grabbed Usagi's shoulders, silencing the girl. "Usagi, you are not at fault for how I feel. And I truly thank you for the offer, but I would feel like I'm intruding."

"You wouldn't be, trust me. It's not like we had any plans to make-out in the theater." The Moon Princess said, laughing a little at the end. She saw the other girl was going to say something else, so she cut her off before she could, "Just so you know I'm not taking no for an answer. If you try to give me another excuse, I'll make it an order." She said with a smile. "You can only overrule me if my order puts my safety is in danger, remember."

The blond sighed, "Of course I remember. It's not fair to use something I told you about against me."

"I know, but that's why I know it'll work." Usagi said and stuck her tongue out.

"Fine, but it's under protest."

"Duly noted." Usagi said and grabbed Minako's hands and pulled her to her feet. "Now, let's go eat! I now only have twelve minutes to finish my bento."

Minako couldn't help but laugh at her friend, "Okay, let's go." She said and let Usagi drag her out of the classroom.

* * *

Rei walked up the steps to the shrine at a slower pace than she usually traveled up them. As she got closer to her home she found herself thinking about the man the lived there with her grandfather and her. Their conversation earlier had left her utterly perplexed and she had every intention of confronting him. She could tell he was acting strangely since she returned home, but she had no idea what his problem was. Initially she had thought he was still upset with her over she'd treated him before she was kidnapped, but she wasn't so sure anymore. 'Whatever his issue is, he's going to talk to me and I'm going to set him straight.' She thought as she reached to top of the steps and entered the shrine.

She saw her grandfather sweeping the courtyard, so she approached him. "Good afternoon, Jii-chan."

The older man looked up and smiled, "Is it that late already? You're already out of school?"

The raven haired girl nodded, "Yep." She said and paused for a second before asking, "Do you know where Yuuichirou is?"

Her grandfather looked towards the sky in thought, "I believe he's tending to the garden in the back."

Rei nodded, "Okay, thanks." She began to walk toward the main shrine, only to hear her grandfather speak again.

"Oh Rei, a Kaioh Michiru called a short time ago and said Hotaru was discharged. She also said they'd be at their house if you needed anything,"

The miko stopped for a second, "Thanks Jii-chan." She said and continued on to her bedroom. Once she slid the door to her room shut she pulled out her communicator. She took a quick glance at the clock in her room, 'Usagi should be out of school…' She thought and pressed a couple buttons. After a couple seconds Usagi's face appeared on the small screen.

"I was just thinking about you." Usagi said with a smile.

"You're making my heart flutter." Rei said and returned her girlfriend's smile, until she heard laughing in the background, causing her to turn a light shade of red. "Shut it, Minako." She muttered under her breath.

The Moon Princess laughed a little as she asked, "So, what's up?"

"They released Hotaru and all four of them are at Haruka and Michiru's place." Rei said speaking into her communicator.

"Well that's good news. We should probably pay them a visit then."

"That's what I was thinking as well. Do any of the other girls want to come?" Rei asked and watched as her girlfriend looked at her other friends. She could hear Ami and Makoto say they would like to but have other plans.

"I'm afraid I have to decline as well."

"Are you sure Minako?" Usagi questioned, still looking away from the circular devices screen and towards her friend.

"Yeah, but thanks for the invite."

Usagi sighed, "Well okay then." She turned back to the communicator, "Do you want to meet at my house then?"

"How far from your house are you?" Rei asked.

"About ten minutes away."

"Okay, I'll meet you there." Rei said and disconnected. She thought about what she intended to do when she got home, but shook her head. 'Yuuichirou will have to wait.' She thought and walked over to her dresser to grab a new set of clothes to change into.

* * *

Usagi shook her head, the only way Rei could make it to her house about the same time as her would be if she transformed and ran. Usagi looked over to her blue haired friend and her taller girlfriend, "So, tonight's the introduction then?"

Ami nodded, "Yeah. I made sure that she would be home tonight."

"Actually, we should probably get going. We still need to go to the grocery store." Makoto said and took Ami's hand in her own.

"Yeah, if we want everything to be ready when my mom gets home, we should head there now." Ami said with a nod her head.

Minako smiled at her two happy friends, "Good luck, guys! Though I don't really think you need it."

"Yeah, good luck!" Usagi called to the two girls as they started to walk away.

"Thanks." The couple said together.

The two blondes continued walking to their respective homes. They both lived in the same direction, until they reached a street a couple blocks down. Usagi looked at her friend, she didn't like a quiet Minako, it only increased her concern for the girl. She hoped that she wouldn't regret bringing up this topic again but, "So, why don't you want to go with Rei and I to the outer's house?"

"It's not that I didn't want to go with you guys, I just have plans." Minako explained, but received a disbelieving look from her Princess. "It's true, I promise."

"Okay, what plans do you have?"

"It's nothing exciting or anything, I was just going to spend some time with Artemis."

"Oh, well I hope you two have fun." Usagi said with bright smile.

"I'm sure we will." Minako said and stopped. "I'll see you later." She said and turned down the street she needed to take.

"Minako!" Usagi called to the retreating girl, causing her to turn around. "I'm calling you tomorrow morning to tell you when we'll meet up, okay?"

The avatar of Venus smiled and shook her head slightly, "Okay, Usagi!" She called and waved good-bye.

* * *

Usagi dropped her backpack on the ground in her room, waking the small black cat that was sleeping on her bed. "Hey Luna." Usagi said and proceeded to remove her school uniform.

"How was school today, Usagi?" The black cat asked after she stretched.

"It stunk." The blonde said with a laugh. "We had a test in English and I don't think I did too hot on it. Ami said our teacher told us about it on Monday, but I didn't remember." She said with a pout. She was down to her bra and panties when she opened her dresser and pull out a white tank top and a pair of blue jeans.

"Your studies are important you know." Luna said in motherly tone.

"I know Luna, I know. But I've had a lot on my mind recently, I mean we only just got Rei back and now Chibi-Usa is here…" Usagi said as she zipped up her jeans.

"How is she? Chibi-Usa I mean. I haven't seen her since she arrived." Luna said, stumbling over her words a little.

"Luna, you can ask me about Rei too. You've hardly even mentioned her since I told you about our relationship." The Moon Princess said and slipped on her tank top.

The small cat sighed and leapt down from the bed and jumped on to the dresser, so she would be more equal in height to her charge, "I know. It's just different thinking of you two together..."

"Luna, I love her and that's not going to change. She's my future and it just feels _so_ right being with her…" Usagi paused for a moment before adding, "I don't think words can do justice to my feelings…all I know is that my feelings for her are the strongest thing I've ever felt."

The black cat sighed once again, "Usagi, I know better to question you or your feelings. I'm just saying that I'm adjusting to this change, that's all."

Usagi reached out and petted the cat in front of her, "I understand Luna."

The room grew silent, until the Moon Princess' actions drew Luna's attention. Usagi pulled out a third set of clothes and sent them to her sub-space pocket, as she had done with the previous two. "Why are you putting some many clothes in your sub-space pocket?" The feline asked curiously.

"If all goes well with mom and dad, I'll be spending the weekend over at the shrine." Usagi said with a smile as she picked out one more outfit.

"I understand that you're in love, but aren't you moving a little quick though?" Luna questioned and eyed the teen for her answer.

Usagi rolled her eyes at her guardian's assumption, "I do anticipate that I'll still be a virgin after this weekend, if that's what you're thinking."

The feline made an effort to cover her ears, but her cat hearing was too good despite her efforts. "Usagi, I wasn't…okay maybe I was, but you don't have to give me details. Unless you have…questions…"

Usagi cut off the black cat before she could put her foot in her mouth again, "Luna I can understand your worries, but I promise we are _not_ moving too fast. We're moving at a speed we are both comfortable with." She said when the doorbell rang, "That's Rei. I'll see you later, Luna." Afterwards, she hurried to her door and headed downstairs to greet her girlfriend.

End ch.7

* * *

I hope everyone is as confused about Yuuichirou as Rei is…lol I promise there will be an explanation fairly soon in the meantime enjoy the confusion. I'm really happy this chapter is coming out after just a short delay, at least for me it's short! LOL Hopefully this chapter was enjoyable, because I really had a fun time writing this chapter. I just wanted single out one scene in particular to say that I had a ton of fun writing. Usagi and Luna's talk. I really hope everyone else found it enjoyable as well! That's for this chapter. Leave a review if you have time, they are always appreciated :)

OT but Happy Independence Day for those leaving in the states!


	8. Dinner

Okay, let me start this update, by saying how sorry I am for how long this took. I never expected or wanted there to be this kind of extreme gap between updates. One thing I did want to stress, I did not lose my passion for this story or any of my stories for that matter. I may have lost more readers than I'd care to think about and for that I apologize to those people who may never even see this update. I hope my reemergence does bring others to this story that may have not read it before, or "Her Battle" before this. I will promise to try my best to update on a more regular basis, maybe shorter chapters will help with that, but only time will tell. I have devoted some much time to this story as well as "Her Battle", so much "behind the scenes" stuff that I would hate myself if I stopped writing this. There is so much more to be told here and I want to share it with everyone, I truly do. So, I hope everyone can bear any future delays and stick with me until the end of this. :D

~Riza

~~~~******~~~~  
Chapter 8 – Dinner  
~~~~******~~~~

Mars smiled as Usagi's home came into vision. She leapt into the air and investigated the area for a safe place to undo her transformation. She spotted a secluded place that would give her cover as well. She immediately made her way to the spot she selected and returned to her civilian identity. Rei continued on her way, though at far slower pace than she had been going. After a few minutes of walking she was walking up the pathway to her girlfriend's house. When she reached to front door, she pressed the doorbell. It was only a couple seconds before the door opened to reveal Usagi's mother.

"Hello, Tsukino-san." Rei said and bowed slightly. "Is Usagi back from school yet?"

The blue haired woman smiled as she said, "Yes, she's up…right here." She corrected herself mid-sentence as her daughter appeared beside her.

Usagi took Rei's hand and pulled her inside, "What are you waiting there for? Come in!"

Rei laughed a little as she entered the building, "Okay, okay, I'm inside."

Ikuko closed the door, "I was going to tell her head up to your room, when I saw you were already here." She said causing her daughter to look away from her, a little sheepishly.

The raven haired girl smiled, "Thank you, Usagi's just…. impatient." She said and squeezed her girlfriend's hand lightly.

The older woman looked at her daughter and shook her head, "I can see that." Ikuko said with a smile. "Would you like anything to eat? I'm almost done with dinner."

"Thank you, but I don't want to impose." Rei said politely.

"Nonsense, there's more than enough to go around." The blue haired woman said, wearing another smile.

"Actually mom, we were going to head over to meet another one of our friends." Usagi said.

"Is dinner ready, honey?" Usagi father asked, coming into view as he stepped into the foyer from the living room. "Oh…do we have guest for dinner?" Kenji asked, noticing one of his daughter's friends.

Usagi shook her head, "No dad, we were going over to a friend's."

"Oh…well, it's good to see you Rei-san" Kenji said, sounding unsure of what to say.

"It's nice to see you as well Tsukino-san." Rei said, once again bowing slightly. He nodded his head and started to walk back to the room he came from, only to be stopped by his daughter.

"Actually, since you're here, I'd like to ask you and mom something." Usagi said and looked at both her parents.

"What is it?" Ikuko asked.

Usagi took a deep breath and looked over to Rei for moment before continuing, "Well, I was wondering if I could stay over at Rei's for the weekend?" She looked at both of her parents for their answer.

Kenji shrugged his shoulders and looked at his wife. Seeing his expression the blue haired woman shook her head slightly before turning to her daughter, "I'm not so sure after last night…"

"I know that was irresponsible of me and I'm sorry mom. It won't happen again." The blond teen said quickly before her mother could dwell on the previous night. "Please mom." She added, hoping to push her into her favor.

Ikuko appeared to be thinking over Usagi's request when she turned to Rei, "Is your grandfather okay with Usagi staying over?"

"Absolutely. He's always happy to have any of my friends over." The raven haired girl replied without skipping a beat. Still seeing that she was on the fence she added, "You can call him if you'd like. I promise he'll be all for Usagi staying over."

"No, no, that isn't necessary." The older woman said to the dark haired girl before turning to her daughter, "I guess it's fine as long as you don't come back too late Sunday for school on Monday."

Usagi's face lit up and she lunged at her mother, "Thank you, Mom. I promise I won't be home late Sunday!" She said and kissed her on the cheek.

Ikuko smiled and hugged her daughter back, "You're welcome honey." She said before releasing the teen.

"What ever happened to that Mamoru guy? You don't ever talk about him anymore." Kenji asked, unknowingly completely shattering his daughter's gleeful mood.

Usagi looked surprised by the question and stepped away from her mother, moving closer to Rei. Her girlfriend met her halfway and took her love's hand in her own. Usagi felt better as she held Rei's hand, but it didn't quell all of her nerves as she looked at her father to answer his question. "We actually broke up." She said and nervously shuffled her feet. She didn't know why she hadn't told her parents yet, more than anything the topic just had come up and she wasn't going to be the one to initiate that conversation.

The older man actually wore a large smile on his face when heard what Usagi said, "Good riddance. He should date a girl his own age."

"Dad, he was always a gentleman with me. He's a good man and still care about him." Usagi said, still feeling the need to defend the man. He hadn't done anything to cause their breakup after all.

"Why did you break up then?" Mrs. Tsukino asked.

Usagi could feel Rei squeeze her hand, bringing a small smile to her lips, "We just…realized we weren't meant to be…"

"Like I said good riddance." The patriarch of the family said. Usagi sighed and looked as if she was going to saying something again, but he spoke up again before she could. "Usagi, I was his age once too and I know what men his age are thinking."

"He wasn't like that…" The blond protested.

"Honey, all men are like that." He said and took a deep breath as he added, "I just think you would do better to find a nice boy your own age…" He paused when he saw his daughter's reaction. "What's wrong, honey?"

Rei could feel the change in her girlfriend immediately and squeezed her hand once again, but didn't get any real response. She really just wanted nothing more than to hold the other girl in her arms, but she also didn't want to cause her parents to ask even more questions. She took a quick glance over and saw she wasn't likely to respond to her father anytime soon, so she spoke up for her love. "I'm really sorry, Tsukino-san but we really should be going. Our friends are waiting for us." She said and gave a little tug on her girlfriend's arm, bringing her back to reality. Usagi looked over at Rei and it only took a moment for a smile to return to the girl's lips.

"Usagi…" Ikuko said

Rei turned around and gave Usagi's mother a warm smile, "She's fine. She's just still getting over M-Mamoru-san." The raven haired girl said and let go of Usagi's hand, deciding to put her arm around her girlfriend's shoulders tenderly instead, holding her comfortably against herself. She really wanted to kiss her and reassure her girlfriend's concerns, but now wasn't the best time to do that, so she just ushered the blonde away from her home.

The blue haired woman nodded, "Okay…have fun." She said and watched Rei lead her daughter away from their home.

Kenji looked at his wife, "What was that about?"

She shook her head, "I don't have a clue." She said and took one more look at the two girls before closing the door.

* * *

Makoto pulled a piece of paper out of her purse, "Let's see what we need…."

Ami watched her girlfriend analyze the list of ingredients for a few moments before asking, "Are you sure you want to go to all this trouble? We could always just order something."

The brunette looked up from the paper and over to Ami, "You aren't doubting my culinary skills, are you?" She said in mock anger.

"O-Of course not." Ami said quickly, not noticing her girlfriend's attempt to ease her reservations.

"Ami, you don't have anything to worry about. Just relax." Makoto said and rubbed the shorter girl's back comfortingly.

The blue haired girl took a deep breath and quickly nodded her head, "I'm trying. It's just that this is the most important conversation I've ever had with my mother and…" Ami took another deep breath before adding, "I just don't know how she is going to react."

Makoto leaned down and kissed the side of her girlfriend's head, "I've met your mother plenty of times. She loves you and she will love after tonight, I promise."

Ami turned to taller brunette, "How can you be so sure, when I'm not?"

Makoto smiled and wrapped her arm around the shorter girl's waist, "I might be a little bias, but I don't see not loving you as an option."

The blue haired girl couldn't help but smile, "Thanks Mako-chan."

"You don't need to thank me Ames I just telling you the truth." She said and looked at the piece of paper again, "Now, let's get what we need."

Ami nodded and felt a little better, but she couldn't help still feeling a bit nervous. However, she decided to not let that affect her as best she could, "Alright, what is first?"

Makoto smiled and held her girlfriend a little tighter, "Ok, for the roux we need butter, flour, garam masala, cayenne pepper, black pepper, tomato paste, and tonkatsu sauce."

Ami looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "Well I know that I have butter, flour, and black pepper at home, so we just need the other ingredients." The brunette nodded and her girlfriend questioned, "What else do we need?"

"Ok, for the curry we need; oil, a couple onions, carrots, potatoes, an apple, salt, peas, and some kind of meat, unless your mom would prefer tofu? Oh, and rice of course!" Makoto said and turned her attention back to her girlfriend.

"I'm sure she'll love whatever you choose, tofu or meat." Ami said with a smile.

"Pork it is then." The brunette said and kissed her girlfriend's temple, "This is going to be the best curry your mother's ever had."

* * *

"This is your house?" Chibi-Usa asked as she looked around the mansion in awe. Her mother's shrine was large, but the actually living space wasn't very big. This house was huge in comparison; though it wasn't as large as the palace it was still impressive.

Michiru laughed a little at the girl's wonderment, "Yes, we have the fortune of being well off in terms of money." She said with a smile.

The tall blonde placed her keys on the table by the door and looked at the youngest house resident, "Hotaru, why don't you show Chibi-Usa around?" Haruka suggested.

The pink haired girl shook her head, "That's not necessary. I can explore the place on my own…" She trailed off when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm perfectly fine now, you know. And I'd love to show you around." Hotaru said hopefully.

Chibi-Usa looked to her left and found herself staring into her friend's eyes a bit longer than she felt was necessary. She looked down embarrassedly, "I'm sorry…" She mumbled apologetically. 'What is wrong with me? I keep doing that…she probably thinks I'm bizarre…' She thought to herself before she chanced looking over to Hotaru again. She thankfully wasn't looking at her like she was as strange as she felt. "Okay." The pink haired girl said, hoping to avoid any inquires about her behavior, mostly because she didn't have an answer herself.

"Great! Michiru and I will whip something up for dinner." Haruka announced and put and hand on each girl's back and urged them forward. "We'll let you know when it's ready."

* * *

Both girls gave the tall blond a curious look, but after a moment Hotaru shook her head. She took her friend's hand and led her away from her guardians, "Come on. I'll show you around this level first." Chibi-Usa only nodded and allowed the other girl to take her wherever she was taking her.

Once a couple minutes past and the two girls were nowhere to be seen, Michiru looked at her lover, "You can't force it, you know."

Haruka smiled, "I know…but being with her makes Hotaru happy even though it also makes her a little sad."

Michiru smiled and laid her arm across her lover's shoulders and brought her lips to her ear, "Come on matchmaker, let's get dinner started."

"How did you come to live with Haruka-san and Michiru-san?" Chibi-Usa asked curiously. Hotaru stopped for a moment, a little surprised by the question, but as she took that moment to think about it, it wasn't _that_ unexpected of a question. Her silence drew her companion's attention because again she questioned her, "I'm sorry. Did I ask something you didn't want to talk about?"

Hotaru shook her head, "No, I'm sorry it just surprised me. It's fine though, but I get ask you a question too."

The pink haired girl nodded, "Alright." She said and recalled using the same tactic earlier, so it was only fair.

"Okay." Hotaru said and gave a quick nod before starting to walk slowly again, "Well my mother died when I was much younger, when I was five years old."

"I'm sorry…"

"Thank you." She said and smiled slightly, "She died in an accident at a research lab. I was there and was injured as well. I probably would have died if it wasn't for my father. His intentions were in the right place, but because of what he did to keep me alive many more people suffered."

Chibi-Usa stared at the other girl for a couple seconds after hearing what she just said. She questioned whether to ask what came to her mind, but in the end she couldn't _not _ask, "What exactly did he do?"

Hotaru looked down briefly, but eventually her eyes reconnected with her companion, "He made a deal with an evil group of aliens who called themselves the 'Death Busters'. For me to live I had to become a host for one of them. My father was in an awful state and they used his grief as a tool to get what they wanted. They eventually even made him a host for one of them as well and that is what eventually lead to his death." She said and paused for a moment, "He regretted accepting that offer until he died."

Chibi-Usa could feel her eyes fill with tears. She could feel the other girl's pain and it was hard to bare. She suffered far more than she was indicating and it broke her heart that the other girl felt the need to put on a brave face, despite how much she was obviously hurting. A soft sob escaped her lips, drawing Hotaru's attention, causing her to stop and look back at her.

"What's wrong?" The dark haired girl asked, but that only caused another sob from the other girl.

Chibi-Usa took an unsteady breath to compose herself before she spoke, "How…How can you remain calm? Despite how much you are hurting."

Hotaru looked down briefly before stepping closer to the other girl and putting her hands on her shoulders. She stared into the other girl's eyes, "I don't allow myself to dwell on the past. I will not lie though, I experienced a lot of pain back then but there is nothing I can do about that now, so there is no sense allowing the past to continue to hurt me."

Chibi-Usa shook her head, "But it is hurting you…I can tell…" She whispered.

Hotaru sighed, 'I'm going to have be cautious with my feelings around her.' She thought to herself before taking a deep breath and saying, "My father died only a few weeks ago, so that pain is still fresh, but I am happy where I am. I'm where I should be and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Chibi-Usa nodded and wiped the remaining wetness from her cheeks, "I'm sorry…it's just that it's not good to ignore your feelings."

"I'm not." Hotaru said quickly, but immediately realized how that must have sounded so she added, "I promise."

The pink haired girl stared at her for a few seconds before nodding her head slowly, "You may think it weird of me to say since I don't really know you, but I will listen if you ever need to talk." She said and reached forward, taking the other girl's hand in her own.

Hotaru could feel her cheeks warm, so she looked down embarrassedly before speaking, "It's not weird…I'm grateful for the offer." She said quietly before looking at Chibi-Usa, "I promise, you'll be the first person I go to if I want to talk."

"Good, I'll hold you to that." Chibi-Usa said with a smile and squeezed the other girl's hand slightly.

Hotaru couldn't help but smiled as well, "We've gotten completely distracted away from what we doing originally." She said and laughed a little.

The future Princess shook her head, "It's fine…I want to know more about you." As soon as the words left her mouth, she found herself blushing profusely. She let go of the other girl's hand and looked away from her, "I'm sorry…you probably think I'm strange."

"I definitely don't think you're strange, because I want the same thing." The dark haired girl said with a smile and took Chibi-Usa's hand again, to emphasis was feeling the exact same.

The pink haired girl's cheeks reddened further, but she still couldn't help returning the other girl's smile. "I'm glad." She said quietly.

"Good, now let's continue with the tour." Hotaru said and pulled her companion towards a staircase. "Our bedrooms are located on this floor." She said as she began to ascend the stairs. Once she reached the top she pointed to the first door at the top of the staircase, "That is Haruka and Michiru's room. The rest of the rooms down this hall are mostly spare rooms." She turned left and walked a short distance to a room with double doors, "This is…was Setsuna-san's study. She spent most of her time there when she was here." Hotaru took a deep breath before turning around and walking back towards the stairs. She stopped and looked at the girl beside her for a moment before looking forward again, "W-Would you like to see my room?"

Chibi-Usa immediately smiled, "I would love to."

Hotaru's gaze landed back on the other girl and she smiled, "Okay, it's just down this hall." She said and pointed in the direction she was referring to. She lowered her hand and led her companion to her room. Hotaru opened the door and held it open for the other girl to enter. "It's not much, but this is my little sanctuary."

The slightly shorter girl entered the room and looked around in wonder at the various lamps that decorated the room. There wasn't any natural light, but she found herself not caring as much as she would have thought. The numerous lamps lit gave the room a unique, but striking glow. "It's really beautiful…" Chibi-Usa muttered more to herself than anything, but apparently she was overheard.

Hotaru smiled and made her way over to her bed in the middle of the room and sat the edge of it. "It's nothing like the collection I had before though…I just started to collect them again." Hotaru said quietly and look towards the ground when she felt her cheeks become warm.

"Again?" Chibi-Usa asked curiously.

"Do you remember when I told you how I became a baby again after fighting that enemy that was trying to invade Earth from outside our solar system?" The dark haired girl asked and after a few moments received a nod, "Well, before that I had a collection of lamps. They were like my retreat when things weren't so good."

Chibi-Usa nodded slowly and sat down beside Hotaru on her bed, "I'm sorry you had to start over again. I miss being able to go to the palace's gardens. It was always so relaxing and peaceful there…" She said and laughed lightly as she added, "I was actually scolded a couple times for falling asleep in the flower beds." Her smile faded after a few moments though, 'Everyone must be so worried, especially mother and mama, I hope everyone is doing okay and…' Her thoughts were cut off by a hand covering her own. She looked over to the girl beside her curiously.

Hotaru smiled and squeezed her hand slightly, "Don't worry, we'll find a way to get you back home. I'm sure you must be homesick." Chibi-Usa nodded her head slightly, she was homesick, but that wasn't the only thing on her mind, but she didn't say anything further.

Several minutes of silenced past the darker haired of the two spoke. Hotaru glanced at her companion as she asked, "Do you mind if I ask my question now?"

Chibi-Usa shook her head, "Not at all, ask whatever you want." She said quickly a little curious about what her question would be.

Hotaru gave a quick nod before shifting slightly so she could look fully at friend, in the process releasing her hold on the other girl's hand. She immediately found herself missing the contact, but she ignored how she felt and got down to trying to figure some things out about the girl with her and the future. "I want to ask you something about the future." She said and watched the other girl's reaction.

The future Princess tilted her head to the side slightly, "Ok, what did you want to know?"

"Well, I was curious about the state of things in the future." Hotaru said cautiously.

Chibi-Usa looked at her curiously, "I'm not sure I know what you are asking."

"Sorry, that wasn't very specific." Hotaru said and took a deep breath. "We did have minimal knowledge of the future, but I'm sure much has changed from what we knew before. So, I wanted to know if you could tell me some of the basics like, do you live on Earth?"

The pink haired future Princess shook her head, "No, we live on the Moon."

The dark haired girl nodded, 'That would make sense, since there would be no union with the Moon and Earth. "How is their relationship? The Moon and Earth I mean."

"Very good, we have a peaceful alliance with the ruler of Earth, King Endymion."

Once again Hotaru nodded, 'That's good, much better than the Silver Millennium. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything else with Endymion ruling though.' She thought. "That's good to hear, their relations were poor during the first Silver Millennium."

"Oh…that's never been in issue as far as I know. Was that it?" The future Princess asked.

Hotaru shook her head, "Just one more general question. Do you have any known enemies or has it been peacefully?" Chibi-Usa looked away from the other girl and remained silent. Hotaru didn't press her, wanting to give her the time to answer.

'How am I supposed to answer that? Yes, we are at war with a group of hypocritical radicals who claim to hate magic, yet use it quite often themselves….' She bit her lower lip gently as she mulled over what exactly to say. She was frankly surprised that her companion was being this patient with her. Taking a deep breath, she let her gaze meet her dark haired friend, "It has mostly been peaceful, but we do have enemies."

The avatar of Saturn held her friend's gaze for a short time longer before looking forward, "I see." 'That's a step in the right direction. I know she would have been lying if she'd have claimed they had no enemies.' She turned back to the pink haired girl, "Thank you for being honest with me." She said with a smile. 'I'll have to ask some more specific questions next time.' She told herself.

Chibi-Usa gave her a quick nod, "Of course." She said, but when the words left her mouth she felt a pang of guilt. She wasn't entirely forthcoming.

Hotaru stood up and took one of the other girl's hands in her own and brought her to her feet as well, "Let's head to the kitchen, I have a feeling they may be finished with dinner."

"But they didn't call for us…"

The dark haired girl smiled, "I know Haruka and Michiru, and I can just about guarantee that they are finished and just waiting for us to come down."

* * *

Ami and Makoto put their grocery bags on the counter in the kitchen.

"Is there anything you need me to do?" Ami asked as she watched Makoto unload the bags.

Makoto looked around for a moment, "Can you get me a large saucepan, a knife, a cutting board, and everything you said you already had here?" She said and began emptying the bags of everything she would need. Ami quickly returned with everything and placed the saucepan on the stove and the ingredients she had next to the other ones Makoto had already laid out. "Ok, I need to caramelize some onions, so can you peel them while I start to heat the oil." Ami nodded and grabbed the two onions and peeled them as instructed.

The blue haired girl held the two onions for her girlfriend and she had adjusted the temperature to where she wanted it, Makoto turned and took them from her. She grabbed the knife and made quick work of the vegetable, dropping them into the saucepan. "It may look like a lot, but they'll reduce to almost nothing after they caramelize." She explained and stirred the pan of onions occasionally. "Do you want to cut up the pork? Or would you rather keep an eye on the onions?" Makoto asked.

Ami looked at the pan and the knife for moment, "I might do better watching the onions."

Makoto handed her the spoon she was using and kissed her check as she swapped positions with her, "Whatever you want, love."

Ami blushed lightly and looked at the pan, "I just need to stir them, so they don't burn, right?" She asked.

The brunette nodded her head and took the knife and cutting board over the sink to rinse them off. "That's right babe." She came back and dried off the knife and plastic board quickly before opening the package of pork, they'd bought earlier. She cut up the pork into cubes and put them to the side for the time being, until the onions were finished. "Let me get another pan, we should get the roux going too." She said and went off to grab said pan. She returned quickly and turned on another burner and adjusted the temperature. She put the pan on the heat and added the butter. It didn't take long for the butter to melt completely, since it was already room temperature. Makoto looked at the onions, they didn't need much longer. "Where are some measuring cups?"

Ami looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking, "In the second drawer beneath the one with utensils." She said and pointed in the general direction. Her girlfriend nodded and walked over to the drawer and took out the measuring cups she needed.

Makoto measured out a quarter cup of flour and added it to the pan of melted butter. She then measured out two tablespoons of garam masala and added that to the same pan. She reduced the heat and stirred the ingredients, until the mixture thickened. She glanced at the pan Ami was attending to before saying, "It looks like it's time to add the pork." She reached over and dropped the cubes of meat into the pan, "Let me know when the pork is browned." She said and looked at the flame for the pan with the meat after a second she turned the flame up a little. She grabbed the cayenne pepper and black pepper and added it to her pan. She worked the pepper into the mixture and grabbed the bottle of tankatsu sauce and tomato paste and added them to the mixture as well. After a few minutes the mixture reached the right consistency, so Makoto turned off the flame and put the pan on to one of the unused burners.

The brunette looked at the clock on the wall, "When should your mom being coming home?"

Ami paused for moment, "She's usually back around six from the shift she is on, as long as nothing holds her up."

Makoto nodded, "Ok, so if she's on time, we have about forty five minutes. I should get the rice on..." She gave a quick look around the kitchen, but didn't see what she was looking for immediately. "Where is the rice steamer, honey?"

"Oh, it's on the microwave kart, on the bottom." Ami said, while keeping her attention of the pork.

"Thanks." Makoto said and grabbed the cooker and set it up for the rice.

"I think the pork is nearly done." The blue haired girl stated.

"Good, you need to added four cups of water and a couple carrots to it." Makoto said as she added the rice to the steamer. Ami nodded and filled a measuring cup up with the amount of water she was told to add. She took out two carrots from their package and quickly peeled them and cut them. When she dropped the last piece of carrot into the pan, she felt a pair of arms encircle her at her shoulders. "Now we just have to wait for that to boil and add the rest of the ingredients." Makoto said and kissed the shorter girl's cheek.

Without the distraction of watching the food, Ami could feel her nervousness start to resurface. "And then we just have to wait for Oka-san."

Makoto held her girlfriend a little tighter, "Don't be so anxious babe; she's going to love me."

"I love that you're so confident." Ami said with smile.

"Well of course, how could she not after she tastes my cooking?"

Ami turned in her girlfriend's hold, so that she was facing her now, "You're the best girlfriend anyone could ask for." She said and leaned up to kiss her partner when a hissing sound startled her. She looked over her shoulder and saw the water boiling over, causing her to laugh. "I guess that's sign that we were getting distracted."

"I blame my sexy cooking assistant." Makoto said with a laugh before leaning down slightly to give her girlfriend a quick kiss. She let her go afterwards and reduced the heat on the stove and went over the finish the meal.

* * *

Minako lay in her bed staring up at the ceiling and sighed, 'Maybe I should have just told Usagi that I would go along with her and Rei.' As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she shook her head, 'I already feel like I'm imposing on their date.' She frowned and got up, "I can at least do something productive." She told herself and looked around for something to occupy her time. Her eyes fell on her school bag and she groaned, 'I really don't want to do homework on a Friday night…' she thought.

She continued scanning her room until her eyes landed on her manga. She thought about occupying her time with them, but realized she didn't have any new ones to read and she really didn't want to reread any of the ones she had. 'Have I really become this lost without everyone else?' Minako asked her and found her eyes drawn to her bedroom window. She reached into her jean pocket and pulled out her henshin stick.

"Venus Crystal Power, Make-up."

The blonde whispered and held the object above her head. She quickly opened her window and leapt outside, breaking into a full sprint as soon as her feet touched the ground. She didn't have any particular place in mind as she ran, just wanting to be somewhere she wouldn't be seen, somewhere quiet. She quickly scanned her surroundings and released she wasn't too far from downtown Tokyo. In the distance, she could see a brightly lit metal structure in the distance. 'It's been a while since I've been to Tokyo Tower.' She thought as she leapt on to a nearby building, knowing that she would have to be quiet high if she wanted to avoid drawing any attention in such a large city.

Traveling at full speed it didn't take her very long to reach her destination. Giving a quick look to make sure no one could see her climbing the iconic structure. Satisfied that the coast was clear she ran up to the building and jumped on to one of the many steel beams. She continued higher until she was sure that she would have a good view of the city.

Venus sat on the scaffolding and watched all the people hurrying around far beneath her. She laughed a little to herself at how the screen looked from her vantage point. 'They don't even know how many times this planet came close to destruction…how many times Usagi saved them.' Venus shook her head at the thought, 'It's for the best that they don't know. I doubt most of them would even be able to handle the truth.' Her gaze turned away from the streets beneath her as she looked up toward the sky. Night was starting to overtake the sunlight and the stars where becoming more visible. The sky had a pretty orange hue to it as the last remnants of the sun set the distance. It was truly a beautiful sight.

'I should really come here more often.' She told herself as she leaned her head against a metal beam and continued to watch the setting sun. A small smile made its way on to her lips as she thought, 'This would be quiet romantic if I wasn't alone.' Her smile widened as a thought occurred to her, 'Maybe I'll suggest this place to Rei.' She continued to enjoy the scene before her until her vision began to blur. She cursed silently and wiped her eyes with her gloved hand clearing her vision momentarily, but it blurred again after a few seconds. She made no attempt to clear her vision again, knowing it would be futile. So she just continued to enjoy the romantic scene playing out in front of her with watery eyes.

* * *

Usagi and Rei had been walking in relative silence, both girls simply enjoying their closeness. They were only a couple blocks from their destination when Usagi spoke, "I don't know why it never occurred to me to tell them about Mamoru and I. They wouldn't have asked all those questions then. Maybe I should have just told them about us then."

Rei looked at her girlfriend sympathetically, "Usa…"

Usagi shook her head, leaving her gaze on the ground. "I froze when he talked about me finding a nice boy." She paused and looked over to Rei, "I'll never find the nice _boy_ my Dad wants me to…why couldn't I just tell him then?"

Rei held Usagi closer to herself and kissed her girlfriend's temple. She rested her cheek against the spot she just kissed as she spoke, "You don't have to tell your parents anything until you're ready. It wasn't exactly a planned conversation so it's understandable that you would be surprised." Rei could feel Usagi nodded her head slightly. "I don't think you made the wrong choice not tell them. It would have been a bit much at once, wouldn't it?"

Usagi nodded again, "You're right. I guess I just never really thought about it…the fact that I'd have to tell my parents about us at some point." She shook her head slightly at her own words, "That seems a little silly now that I think about it."

Rei smiled and kissed Usagi's cheek, "I love you, Usa and I'll be with you when you do tell them."

The blonde looked to her left and smiled brightly, "I wouldn't do it without you." She said nuzzled closer to her girlfriend.

The raven haired miko looked a little crestfallen as she said, "We better make sure to enjoy ourselves this weekend then."

"Why?" Usagi asked as she cocked her head to the side slightly.

"Well, I don't think your parents will allow many sleepovers when they do find out about us." She explained.

"Oh…maybe we should keep our relationship to ourselves for a little longer then." Usagi said with a smile and held on to Rei tighter.

"Whatever you wish my Princess." Rei said and kissed her cheek as they reached the long driveway to Haruka and Michiru's place. They walked towards the large house and when they reached the front door, Rei reached out with her free arm and rang the doorbell.

It didn't take long for the door to swing open and reveal a tall blonde on the other side, "Well, good evening girls." Haruka said with a smile.

Usagi stepped forward and hugged the blonde, "Hello, Haruka. How is Hotaru doing?" She asked as she pulled back.

"Good, we were just about to sit down and have dinner, if both of you would like to join us?" She said and gestured toward the kitchen.

"We'd love to." Rei said with a smile and stepped even with her girlfriend, taking her hand and interlacing their fingers.

Haruka nodded, "Right this way ladies." She said and led them to the kitchen. As soon as they entered the kitchen, they saw Hotaru and Chibi-Usa sitting next to each other at a table, with Michiru sitting opposite them. "Look you is joining us for dinner." The tall blonde announced when they had fully entered the kitchen.

The pink haired girl at the table got up quickly and ran over to the two new visitors, "Mama and mother." She said and hugged the raven haired girl, before doing the same to Usagi.

"We missed you too." Rei said with a smile as she released the shorter girl from her hug, causing a faint blush to cover her cheeks.

"Have you had fun staying with Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru?" Usagi asked as she held her future daughter in a hug.

Chibi-Usa nodded her head against her mother, "Oh yes." She said loud enough for everyone to hear. "I've liked getting to know Hotaru-chan better." She added much quieter for only her mother to hear.

Usagi smiled and whispered, "I'm glad." She finally let go of the shorter girl and together made their way to the dinner table.

"I'm glad that you're doing much better, Hotaru." Rei said as her eyes met the young Sailor Senshi.

Hotaru lowered her head slightly, "Thanks, but I guess I should really thank you, Usagi-san." She said and looked over to the Moon Princess as she finished.

Usagi smiled, "I don't deserve all the credit. I would have never known how to help you without Chibi-Usa's help. She told me how I could help you." She said and looked down at the girl beside her. Chibi-Usa's eye widened for moment before she felt her cheeks warm, and that was when she found something fascinating on the floor.

Hotaru got off her chair and walked over, "I guess I need to thank the both of you then." She said and stepped closer and gave the future Princess a loose hug, causing her blush to deepen.

"You don't have to…" Chibi-Usa whispered, but was cut off before she could finish.

"Of course I do. I'm pretty sure, I'd still be in the hospital without your help." Hotaru said quietly.

"I think all of us are relived that you aren't in the hospital and that you have recovered." Usagi said, bringing a blush to younger dark haired girl's cheeks as well.

"Let's eat before everything gets cold everyone." Michiru announced grabbing everyone's attention and after a couple laughs everyone made their way to the dining table.

* * *

Makoto looked at the clock for what felt like the dozenth time. It read 6:05, the food was prepared, now they were just waiting for Ami's mother to come home for work. They had already set the table for three people, so now it was just a waiting game. Her girlfriend caught her, she was pacing. "Ames, I think you are going to wear a hole in the ground there." She said with a laugh.

Ami stopped and looked at the brunette curiously, "W-What?" She asked, only to resume her previous activity.

Makoto smiled and shook her head as she walked over, "You're pacing, love."

The blue haired girl stopped again, this time realizing what she had been doing, "Sorry, I'm just…" She stopped when she heard the apartment's lock being opening.

"Here we go babe." Makoto whispered and gave her girlfriend a reassuring kiss on her cheek.

Ami nodded and took a deep breath, "Right, do you mind waiting for me to call you out?"

The taller girl nodded her, "I'll do this however you want."

"Thank you." Ami said and quickly gave her girlfriend a kiss on her lips, "Just hang in the kitchen for a few moments, while I get her to settle at the dining room table." She said and walked out into the living room as the front door opened. "Welcome home, Mother."

The older woman looked over to her daughter and smiled, "Good evening, Ami. I'm sorry I'm a little later than I normally am, I got caught up with some paperwork before I left."

Ami shook her head, "It's okay, I'm just glad it was nothing serious and you were able to leave." She said and took her bag from her. "Why don't you take a seat at the table? Dinner is already ready and I have someone I want to introduce to you." She said and headed into the kitchen, when her mother's voice reached her.

"I thought you told me, I'd already met this person?"

Ami paused, "Well you have, but please just bear with me mother." She said and hurried into the kitchen. As soon as she entered, her gaze immediately went to her girlfriend, "Are you ready?"

Makoto smiled, "As ready as I'll ever be."

Ami smiled briefly and took the other girl's hand, pulling her towards the door as she spoke, "Mom, I have someone very important to me that I'd like you to officially meet…" She called through the door and took one more deep breath before pushing the door open. "Mom this is my g-girlfriend, Makoto."

The older woman looked the pair with poorly hid surprise. Sure she had inklings about her daughter's feelings toward the tall brunette, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions, it was usually never a good idea. She'd always rather her daughter tell her feelings, but she hadn't so she began to think maybe she had misinterpreted her feelings. She did feel a little satisfaction that wasn't completely off base. She noticed her daughter start to look nervous and that's when she realized she hadn't responded yet. "You love her Ami?"

Ami nodded quickly in response, "With all my heart."

"And you love my daughter?" Mizuno-san asked, addressing the girl holding her daughter's hand.

"I do, without reservation."

Mizuno-san couldn't hold back a smile, when she heard other girl's conviction. "I must say it's about time my daughter listened to her feelings." The older woman said, clearly surprising the two teens with her reaction.

* * *

"Goshenite…"

After a few moments of silence footsteps and the tapping of something could be heard, "What is it Morganite?"

"Sir, I just overheard something quite interesting…" He drew out.

"I know you know better than to try my patience, Morganite."

He bowed his head, "Of course sir, please forgive my insolence." He said before raising his head again, "Apparently Heliodor went behind your back and contacted Maxixie to form some alliance."

"That is truly none of my concern. I do not care how it is accomplished! I just want that brat in my possession! As long as our front isn't weakened here, I don't give a damn. If that is all, I would like to remind you to not waste my time again." The other man said and stared down his subordinate.

Morganite nodded quickly, "I understand and it will be done sir!"

Several seconds passed without a word being spoken. A long sigh came from one of the two, "So what are you waiting for! Return to your post, Morganite." After a second he bowed and disappeared.

"It's only a matter of time…" Goshenite said and paused, nodding his head after a moment. "Yes, I know. If they fail I have another plan..." He began to walk away when he spoke once more, "Do not worry, we will have our revenge…"

End ch.8

* * *

Well, I'm diving a little into the future, but there is still much to be revealed about it. After all this time, the plot didn't even progress that much, sorry about that everyone. The next chapter will continue where the dinners left off at.

I love writing Minako, but I feel like I'm being so cruel to her. I really feel she was the strongest character throughout the series, not power-wise or anything, just in terms of….maturity I guess might be the word I'm looking for, at least in regards to the inner soldiers.

I don't really have much else to say except, please leave a review if you enjoyed this or just to tell me the time between updates suck lol. Really, I just want to see that people still have an interest in this story. : )


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